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Horatio, Viscount Nelson. 
Ob. 1803, from the original of Hoppner. 



THE 



LIFE OF NELSON 



BY 



ROBERT SOUTHEY 



WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY 



EDWARD KIRK RAWSON 

PROFESSOR UNITED STATES NAVY 
SUPERINTENDENT NAVAL WAR RECORDS 



NEW YORK 

THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO. 

PUBLISHERS 



THE LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

Two Cokies Received 

IUN. 27 1901 

Copyright entry 
idLASS OxXXo. N». 

copy a 



27/1' 

1101 



Copyright, 1901, 
By THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO. 



TO 

JOHN WILSON CROKER, Esq., LL.D., F.R.S. 

Sccretarg of t\)t Efomtraltg 

WHO 

BY THE OFFICIAL SITUATION WHICH HE SO ABLY FILLS 

IS QUALIFIED TO APPRECIATE THEIR HISTORICAL ACCURACY 

AND WHO 

AS A MEMBER OF THE REPUBLIC OF LETTERS 

IS EQUALLY QUALIFIED TO DECIDE UPON THEIR 

LITERARY MERITS 

Cfjts Uolume 

IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED 

BY HIS FRIEND 

THE AUTHOR 



"... Bursting through the gloom 
With radiant glory from thy trophied tomb, 
The sacred splendour of thy deathless name 
Shall grace and guard thy Country's martial fame. 
Far-seen shall blaze the unextinguish'd ray, 
A mighty beacon, lighting Glory's way; 
With living lustre this proud Land adorn, 
And shine and save through ages yet unborn." 

Ulm and Trafalgar. 



Many lives of Nelson have been written : one is 
yet wanting, clear and concise enough to become a 
manual for the young sailor, which he may carry 
about with him, till he has treasured up the example 
in his memory and in his heart. In attempting such 
a work, I shall write the eulogy of our great naval 
Hero ; for the best eulogy of Nelson is the faithful 
history of his actions : the best history, that which 
shall relate them most perspicuously. 



PAGE 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Nelson's birth and boyhood — He sails in Captain 
Phipps's voyage of discovery — Goes to the East 
Indies in the " Sea-horse," and returns in ill-health 
— Expedition against the Spanish main — Sent 
to the North Seas in the " Albemarle " — Services 
during the American war I 

CHAPTER II. 

Nelson goes to France during the peace — Re-ap- 
pointed to the " Boreas," and stationed at the 
Leeward Islands — His firm conduct concerning 
the American interlopers, and the contractors — 
Marries and returns to England — Is on the point 
of quitting the service in disgust — Manner of 
life while unemployed — Appointed to the "Aga- 
memnon " on the breaking out of the war of the 
French Revolution 32 

CHAPTER III. 

The "Agamemnon" sent to the Mediterranean — 
Commencement of Nelson's acquaintance with 
Sir W. Hamilton — He is sent to Corsica to co- 
operate with Paoli — State of affairs in that island 



viii CONTENTS. 



— Nelson undertakes the siege of Bastia, and re- 
duces it — Takes a distinguished part in the siege 
ofCalvi, where he loses an eye — Admiral Hotham's 
action — The "Agamemnon" ordered to Genoa 
to co-operate with the Austrian and Sardinian 
forces — Gross misconduct of the Austrian General 56 

CHAPTER IV. 

Sir J. Jervis takes the Command — Genoa joins the 
French — Buonaparte begins his career — Evacua- 
tion of Corsica — Nelson hoists his broad Pendant 
in the " Minerve " — Action with the " Sabina " 

— Battle of Cape St. Vincent — Nelson commands 
the inner Squadron at the Blockade of Cadiz — 
Boat action in the Bay of Cadiz — Expedition 
against Teneriffe — Nelson loses an arm — His suf- 
ferings in England, and Recovery ... 99 

CHAPTER V. 

Nelson rejoins Earl St. Vincent in the " Vanguard; " 
sails in Pursuit of the French to Egypt; returns 
to Sicily, and sails again to Egypt — Battle of the 
Nile 132 

CHAPTER VI. 

Nelson returns to Naples — State of that Court and 
Kingdom — General Mack — The French ap- 
proach Naples — Flight of the Royal Family — 
Successes of the Allies in Italy — Transactions in 
the Bay of Naples — Expulsion of the French 



CONTENTS. ix 

PAGE 

from the Neapolitan and Roman States — Nelson 
is made Duke of Bronte — He leaves the Medi- 
terranean and returns to England . . .166 

CHAPTER VII. 

Nelson separates himself from his wife — Northern 
Confederacy — He goes to the Baltic, under Sir 
Hyde Parker — Battle of Copenhagen, and sub- 
sequent Negotiation — Nelson is made a Viscount 224 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Sir Hyde Parker is recalled, and Nelson appointed 
Commander — He goes to Revel — Settlement of 
Affairs in the Baltic — Unsuccessful attempt upon 
the Flotilla at Boulogne — Peace of Amiens — 
Nelson takes the Command in the Mediterranean 
on the Renewal of the War — Escape of the Toulon 
Fleet — Nelson chases them to the West Indies 
and back; delivers up his Squadron to Admiral 
Cornwallis, and lands in England . . . 267 

CHAPTER IX. 

Sir Robert Calder falls in with the combined Fleets — 
They form a junction with the Ferrol Squadron 
and get into Cadiz — Nelson is re-appointed to 
the Command — Battle of Trafalgar, Victory, and 
Death of Nelson 312 



INTRODUCTION. 

Milton's saying that a good book is " the precious 
life-blood of a master spirit embalmed and treasured 
up on purpose to a life beyond life," applies with 
especial force to a biography. 

Many biographies are like jointed skeletons ; their 
subjects to us are as spectral shadows. 

A biography is a life book written to make a man 
live again in the minds and hearts of succeeding gen- 
erations, both author and subject living together in 
fraternal honor. 

A true biography is a reincarnation. The con- 
spicuous excellence of biographies fulfilling this ideal, 
such as Bos well's Johnson, Lockhart's Scott, and 
Stanley's Arnold, is evident. 

The most famous biographer, Boswell, succeeded, 
as he caught the speech, the sayings, the living breath 
of his redoubtable hero. The ponderous Doctor lives 
by what he said more than by what he wrote ; what 
he said, what he wrote, and what he did make the 
threefold portrait of the man ; but what he said gives 
the lasting vitality to the features of the biography, -— 
the flesh and blood, color, and movement. A biog- 
raphy is made vital by an autobiographic quality. 



xii INTRODUCTION. 

Southey's "Life of Nelson 11 has been called "the 
peerless model of short biographies. 11 It has been 
said of him that "within his own limitations, he is a 
model of lucid masculine English, 11 that his style is 
"sinewy and flexible, easy and melodious. 11 

Macaulay affirmed that " i The Life of Nelson ' is 
beyond all doubt the most perfect and the most de- 
lightful of Southey's works. 11 " It would not be easy 
to find in all literary history an instance of a more 
exact hit between wind and water. 11 Coleridge said 
Southey's style was next door to faultless, and Sir 
Humphrey Davy described the Life as "an immortal 
monument raised by genius to valor. 11 

These are words of high praise. Of their truth 
every reader will judge for himself. 

The one word transparent, does it not set forth the 
chief characteristic of Southey's style? 

There is no doubt of the value of this story of a life 
to the naval world. No seaman of whatever national- 
ity can read it without catching the professional spirit 
from its pages. But of what avail is it to the civilian 
whose eyes may never have looked upon " ships and 
the shining sea 11 ? This question can only be answered 
by saying that every well told chronicle of a life is of 
value to the majority of men, who always need mental 
and moral stimulus to arouse from depressing routine 
or idleness to high endeavor. 

The atmosphere of the sea is here, the tonic of the 
sea breeze, the smell of tar, and the sight of backstays 
and shrouds, the cabin and the quarter-deck, gold 
lace and swords, cue and knee-breeches; the fore- 



INTRODUCTION. xiii 

castle, wide trousers, flying knot, cutlasses, pikes 
and pistols, the pride of topsails and royals, clouds 
of smoke ascending like battle incense, the thunders 
of great guns, and, far on high, the banner of England 
from the masthead, floating to the breeze. 

When Southey wrote, he labored under a disad- 
vantage in that he had not access to the volumes of 
Nicolas' dispatches of Nelson, which were published 
later, but his material was sufficient for his aim, — 
that of a brief biography. 

The book is a marvel of condensation. Concise 
summaries of contemporaneous history enlighten the 
reader. He sees the setting of the stage on which 
the great play was performed. Southey achieved his 
main purpose, which was to interest his countrymen 
in their greatest naval hero. The volume was pub- 
lished in 1813, eight years after Nelson's death. The 
curtain had not yet been rung up on the last act of 
the drama at Waterloo, — a drama in which Nelson 
played such a conspicuous part. 

Southey was outspoken in his detestation of Napo- 
leon. He simply expressed, however, the general 
opinion of his countrymen in vigorous language. 
He spoke of "the bloody Corsican," "this adven- 
turer," " the perfidious Corsican now sole tyrant of 
France," of " crimes which incarnadined his soul, 1 ' of 
his name being "consigned to universal execration 
now and forever." 

His dislike of the French was no less strong than 
that of Nelson himself. The latter wrote, " ' Down, 
down with the French!' ought to be written in the 



xiv INTRODUCTION. 

council room of every country in the world.' 1 One 
sentence of Southey's has become famous. Writing 
of the Nile battle, he said : " The French are upon 
that element on which, when the hour of trial comes, 
a Frenchman has no hope. 11 

It was not a time for an Englishman to weigh the 
enigmatic Napoleon in delicate scales of expression. 

But Southey does not mince words in his condem- 
nation of his hero. He affirms that Nelson's conduct 
in the Caraccioli incident "deserves severe and .un- 
qualified condemnation. 11 He characterizes the Lady 
Hamilton episode as a "baneful passion 11 which 
" stained ineffaceably his public character. 11 

It is a strange story this of Emma Hart, Lady 
Hamilton. Born in an obscure village of England, 
of humblest origin, betrayed in girlhood, she gradu- 
ally drifted to London, where she lived quietly and 
contentedly with a nephew of Sir William Hamilton, 
Greville by name, who educated her in the rudiments, 
and then, after a few years, coolly packed her off to 
his uncle at Naples. There she became a great favor- 
ite with the royal family. The alliance with England 
gave her especial prominence, as Sir William Hamil- 
ton was the British ambassador. 

Nelson's captains spoke of the gross licentiousness 
of the Neapolitan court in unmeasured terms and 
regretted to see the infatuation which Lady Hamilton 
exerted over their admiral. 

It does not seem strange, however, when, on the 
one hand, the extraordinary beauty of the woman is 
considered together with the crisis in the Kingdom of 



INTRODUCTION. xv 

Naples, and, on the other hand, the environment and 
lack of social experience of Nelson. Yet, while the 
situation can never be condoned, it may be accounted 
for. 

It was no small temptation which befell the hero 
of the Nile. It was a very dangerous reef on which 
he ran, which wrecked him at the last. Skillful 
moral navigation depends upon a strong will helm, 
but when one finds himself amid the breakers, to 
clear them is sometimes a well-nigh impossible task. 

This obscure woman, rising from the hedge-rows 
of England, lifted her head audaciously among the 
aristocratic nobility and fashion of a foreign court. 
Her wondrous beauty excited the admiration of her 
contemporaries. She had many attractions. She 
spoke Italian and "sang divinely." Musicians raved 
over her. Poets sang her praises. Artists strove to 
paint her. The Englishman Romney made twenty- 
three portraits of her. The great Reynolds immor- 
talized her. Her form and features were thought 
worthy of the brushes of Hoppner and Lawrence and 
Madame Le Brun. 

It happened that Goethe, in those Italian journey- 
ings which made anew the world for him, was at 
Naples in March, 1787. He wrote : — 

" Sir William Hamilton, who is still the British 
ambassador here, after having studied the works of 
nature for so long a time, has found a beautiful young 
woman the most delightful thing in art or nature. 
She is an Englishwoman, very beautiful in face and 
figure. She gives an entertainment dressed in a 



xvi INTRODUCTION. 

Greek costume. Her hair hangs loose. She takes 
two shawls in her hands, and she so varies her atti- 
tudes, gestures, and play of features that it is like a 
dream. Kneeling, standing, sitting, she assumes by 
turns an expression of exaltation, repentance, anxiety, 
remorse, affection.' 11 

Rehberg's drawings give some idea of her grace 
and beauty in these delineations, confirming Grev- 
ille's remark, who is reported to have said : " She is 
better than anything in nature. In her particular 
way she is finer than anything in antique art. 1 ' 

The battle of the Nile had taken place. The anni- 
hilation of the French, which saved the Neapolitan 
Kingdom, caused the royal family, the Hamiltons, the 
nobility, the whole people, to be beside themselves 
with joy. The Queen exclaimed, on hearing the 
news : " O brave Nelson ! O God, bless and protect 
our brave deliverer ! O Nelson ! Nelson ! what do 
we not owe you ! O conqueror, saviour of Italy ! " 

" Come here, 1 ' said Sir William Hamilton, " for God's 
sake, my dear friend, as soon as the service will per- 
mit you. A pleasant apartment is ready for you in 
my house, and Emma is looking out for the softest 
pillows to repose the few wearied limbs you have 
left." 

He went to Naples a hero, a deliverer of Italy from 
the French aggression ; the light of success and un- 
exampled achievement lifted him up above the ordi- 
nary mortal in the eyes of the Neapolitan court ; but 
he was also a disabled seaman, worn out by fever and 
anxiety, thinking only of rest after the discomforts of 



INTRODUCTION. xvii 

the sea and the multitudinous anxieties of a long and 
trying campaign. 

To a man in such condition, released for a time 
from the severe exactions of life aboard a man-of-war, 
with its routine of rigid discipline and its masculine 
monotony, the ordinary charms of domesticity would 
have appealed with unusual force ; but here were 
extraordinary allurements, — friends, devotion, wor- 
ship almost, and a woman of unparalleled fascinations 
at his side. 

Moreover, as Nelson believed, by Lady Hamilton's 
influence supplies had been obtained at Syracuse 
without which, he said, he could not have fought the 
battle of the Nile. 

On Nelson's arrival at Naples, when the barge 
came alongside the Vanguard, at the sight of the 
admiral Lady Hamilton " sprang up the ship's side, 
and exclaiming, ' O God ! is it possible ! ' fell into his 
arms, — more," he says, " like one dead than alive. 
He described the meeting as ' terribly affecting.' " He 
had written humorously in one of his letters to Lady 
Nelson that " salt water and absence wash away 
love," but there were stronger influences than these 
to make him unfaithful. 

The attachment was outwardly that of pure Pla- 
tonic affection ; not only Sir William Hamilton, but 
Nelson's family, seemed blind to the situation. Years 
after, as a climax of confidence, Sir William in a 
final codicil to his will presented a copy of Madame 
Le Brim's picture of enamel " to his dearest friend 
Lord Nelson, . . . the most virtuous, loyal, and truly 



xviii INTRODUCTION: 

brave character I ever met with. 

shame fall on those who do not say Amen." 

But how can one account for the continuance of the 
relation, the undisguised disregard of public opinion? 
What opiate served to dull the sense of shame and 
quiet the conscience of a man, possessing great 
strength of character, upright in every other relation 
of life? It is a difficult question to answer. 

He seems to have refused to consider the subject 
from the moral point of view, to have deliberately 
shut his eyes to consequences, and then to have lost 
what might have been the coronation of a fame most 
unique in the annals of English history. 

It is a sad chapter. 

The talents and capabilities of a naval officer are 
best shown in the ordinary pursuits of his calling in 
his official relations, though the public too often judge 
by the success which a happy coincidence may bring 
to him in the great naval engagement, where it may 
be abilities of a not very high order joined with great 
opportunities produce results incommensurate with 
the personal factor. 

In the willingness to bear responsibility, that great 
test of professional eminence, Nelson was conspicuous. 

This kind of courage cannot be appreciated unless 
military service is understood in its effect upon the 
individual. The duty of subordination is so driven 
in upon the brain of a naval officer, the acquiescence 
in the decisions of his seniors is so habitual, that to 
question these acts and to take responsibility at vari- 
ance with superior authority is to reverse the whole 






introduction: xix 

trend of his being, and it may be when justifiable to 
encounter the displeasure of the authorities who have 
power to make his life miserable for years in ways 
which are covered by official routine. 

The same strength of character is required in cir- 
cumstances which are political rather than naval. 
Nelson believed, to quote his own words, that "po- 
litical courage in an officer abroad is as highly neces- 
sary as military courage." 

The Antigua incident and his resistance to the 
violation of the Navigation Act in the West Indies 
show that his opinions found expression in his acts. 

Throughout his career a willingness to take respon- 
sibility at the risk of losing all characterized this 
extraordinary man. He would abide by the conse- 
quences of his actions were he to be deprived of his 
commission, to lose his livelihood, to be flung upon 
the beach, or, if need be, to give up his life. But in 
no one particular does his claim to eminence as a 
naval officer shine forth more than in that perplexed 
position where duty comes in conflict with orders or 
regulations. " To obey orders, 11 he sarcastically wrote 
at one time, "is all perfection. 1 ' 

When emergencies arise, the true officer is gov- 
erned by principles of patriotism in accordance with 
his judgment. If he suffer through a decision that 
he has infringed upon or violated his orders, and 
requires punishment, then it is that his suffering, 
while encountering injustice, it may be, has yet dem- 
onstrated his manhood. He has taken the chances 
of ingratitude and official displeasure and fallen ; but 



xx INTRODUCTION. 

he has taken them as he would the privations of the 
service, wounds, and death. 

The English people after a time began to recog- 
nize his worth, but his honors came slowly. He was 
actively engaged in the service of his countrymen 
thirty out of thirty-five years, and the years that he 
was overslaughed were to the credit of his integrity as 
an officer suffering under official displeasure. 

Early in his career, after the engagement at Santa 
Cruz, he could say that he had actually been engaged 
against the enemy more than one hundred and ten 
days, and he had lost a right eye and a right arm, 
and was severely bruised in body beside. After 
the battles of St. Vincent and Teneriffe he received 
the Order of the Bath. In addition he had given 
him a pension of ^iooo, but the reward* was less than 
his due. 

Late in his life he was created baron and then a 
viscount, and the year before his death, vice-admiral 
of the White. 

After the battle of the Nile the admiration of the 
man grew fast and firm in the hearts of his country- 
men. His shipmates and comrades honored him. 
To few men have been given more sincere tributes of 
praise and popular worship. 

His fellow-countrymen will always remember the 
great battles associated with his name. This reward 
he would have esteemed above all other. 

They remember him, as with a sudden stroke of 
genius, a master of the situation, when off St. Vincent, 
he wore his ship, the Captain, to bring her into close 



INTRODUCTION. xxi 

action with the enemy. They see him on the deck 
of the San Josef receive the captured swords ; and 
they remember how the great sailor handed these 
trophies one by one to a blue-jacket, one William 
Fearney by name, one of his bargemen, who placed 
them coolly under his arm as though they were ordi- 
nary things, his own ship in the meantime, in the 
great inequality of the contest done nearly to the 
death, a helpless wreck. 

They behold him the conspicuous figure in that 
Egyptian night battle, as he with his " band of 
brothers" rounded the shoal into Aboukir Bay with 
his tall ships, and annihilated the enemy by his fast 
and furious fighting. 

They treasure in their minds the picture of the 
Copenhagen fight. They see their maimed seaman, 
now famous, — the little man with the lion heart, 
their " heaven-born Admiral,'" — standing on the deck 
of the Elephant. They see him when, in the crisis 
of the fight, the signal was made to leave off action, 
pacing the deck, nervously moving the stump of his 
arm as was his wont, and, while he holds the glass in 
one hand to his sightless eye, lost in his country's 
service, saying: "I really do not see the signal. 
Keep mine for closer battle flying. That's the way 
I answer such signals. Nail mine to the mast ! " 

But for all time they will remember this crippled 
veteran of the seas winning the tremendous fight off 
Trafalgar. 

They read over again the immortal signal, " Eng- 
land expects every man to do his duty." They see 



xxii INTRODUCTION. 

the anxious countenances in the dark cock-pit of the 
Victory and the suffering hero's face light up as he 
learns that he has won the battle. Again they look 
upon the big-hearted, big-bodied Captain Hardy as 
he stooped to kiss his cheek, wet with the death 
damp, ere the light of his life went out, expressing in 
this way the reverential tenderness, exceeding admi- 
ration, and deep sorrow of the land which he had 
loved and fought for. 

Nelson was a man of medium height, spare but vigor- 
ous, with large eyes, and a " shock head " of hair, firm 
mouth, quick in his movements, of engaging personality. 

There was nothing stolid about him. He was 
" a fascinating little fellow, 1 ' his Chaplain Scott said, 
affectionate and generous, a being of intuitions, of 
quick sympathies ; but, while he had persistence, 
infinite patience and perseverance, his nervous tem- 
perament, exhausted by protracted labor, left him a 
prey to anxiety. His chase after Buonaparte before 
the Nile battle wore him to the bone. He was sen- 
sitive to official censure. Reproved for sending a 
letter through a wrong official channel, he wrote to 
Lord Spencer, " Do not, my dear Lord, let the Admi- 
ralty write harshly to me." 

Great ambition and much humility characterized 
him. Such a contrary union of qualities in the same 
individual served but to accentuate his personality to 
those with whom he came in contact. Like all strong 
characters, he cannot be surveyed and delimited on 
a chart, nor held to the conventionalities, social or 
professional. 



INTRODUCTION. xxm 

He had great tenderness toward and interest in his 
men, winning their admiration, — an attribute of the 
best commanders. " His whole ship's company offered, 
if he could get a ship, to enter for her immediately." 

Thoroughness characterized him. After an en- 
gagement with the French, he desired to pursue the 
defeated enemy. To his request Admiral Hotham 
replied, " We must be contented ; we have done very 
well." " Now," said Nelson, " had we taken ten sail, 
and allowed the eleventh to escape, when it had been 
possible to have got at her, I never could have called 
it well done." 

A religious man, he accepted the truth of Christian- 
ity and endeavored to conform to its principles and 
its faith. The night before Trafalgar he wrote, " For 
myself individually, I commit my life to Him who 
made me, and may His blessing light upon my 
endeavors for serving my country faithfully." 

He was not so in love with the push and peril of 
hard downright fighting as to neglect the subtler 
strategy. He would cripple the enemy and escape, 
permitting the larger force to crush it. To St. Vincent 
he wrote, " Your lordship may depend that the squad- 
ron under my command shall never fall into the hands 
of the enemy ; and before we are destroyed, I have 
little doubt but the enemy will have their wings so 
completely clipped that they may be easily over- 
taken." 

Exceptional opportunities came to him in the long 
wars which Napoleon's ambition created. There was 
in him an exclusive purpose, which is the economy 



xxiv INTRODUCTION. 

of success, and constancy, which is as necessary to 
achievement as the keel to a ship. 

He had courage, presence of mind, and a restless 
ambition which ever impelled him. But his ardor 
most of all characterizes him, which found result in 
achievement over and over again, — a sacred flame in 
the light of which he did his country valiant service. 
He has become the embodiment of the professional 
ideal of the naval officer, and that has been his great- 
est achievement, the assurance of his fame. 

Within him was that demonic energy which is as 
vital to great endeavors as the heart-beat to the body. 
"I know it is my disposition that difficulties and dan- 
gers do but increase my desire of attempting them," 
he said. 

No mists of antiquity make enormous spectre shad- 
ows to disproportion his greatness. His career is 
read, not in the emblazoned pages of romantic chroni- 
clers of old legends, but in the clear cold light of official 
dispatches and records made prosaic by the printing- 
press. Who shall gainsay the declaration of those 
who call him "the most brilliant sea warrior in all 
history " ? 

Edward Kirk Rawson. 

March, 1901. 



LIFE OF NELSON 



CHAPTER I. 

Horatio, son of Edmund and Catherine Nelson, 
was born September 29, 1758, in the parsonage house 
of Burnham Thorpe, a village in the county of Nor- 
folk of which his father was rector. The maiden 
name of his mother was Suckling : her grandmother 
was an elder sister of Sir Robert Walpole, and this 
child was named after his godfather, the first Lord 
Walpole. Mrs. Nelson died in 1767, leaving eight, 
out of eleven, children. Her brother, Captain Maurice 
Suckling, of the navy, visited the widower upon this 
event, and promised to take care of one of the boys. 
Three years afterwards, when Horatio was only twelve 
years of age, being at home during the Christmas 
holidays, he read in the county newspaper that his 
uncle was appointed to the " Raisonnable," of 64 guns. 
« Do, William," said he to a brother who was a year 
and a half older than himself, "write to my father, 
and tell him that I should like to go to sea with Uncle 
Maurice " Mr. Nelson was then at Bath, whither he 
had gone for the recovery of his health : his circum- 
stances were straitened, and he had no prospect of 



2 LIFE OF NELSON. 

ever seeing them bettered : he knew that it was the 
wish of providing for himself by which Horatio was 
chiefly actuated, and did not oppose his resolution*; 
he understood also the boy's character, and had 
always said that, in whatever station he might be 
placed, he would climb, if possible, to the very top 
of the tree. Accordingly Captain Suckling was writ- 
ten to. "What," said he in his answer, "has poor 
Horatio done, who is so weak, that he, above all the 
rest, should be sent to rough it out at sea ? But let 
him come, and the first time we go into action a can- 
non-ball may knock off his head, and provide for him 
at once." 

It is manifest, from these words, that Horatio was 
not the boy whom his uncle would have chosen to 
bring up in his own profession. He was never of a 
strong body ; and the ague, which at that time was 
one of the most common diseases in England, had 
greatly reduced his strength ; yet he had already given 
proofs of that resolute heart and nobleness of mind, 
which, during his whole career of labour and of glory, 
so eminently distinguished him. When a mere child, 
he strayed birds-nesting from his mother's house in 
company with a cow-boy : the dinner-hour elapsed ; 
he was absent, and could not be found ; and the alarm 
of the family became very great, for they apprehended 
that he might have been carried off by the gipsies. 
At length, after search had been made for him in 
various directions, he was discovered alone, sitting 
composedly by the side of a brook, which he could 
not get over. " I wonder, child," said the old lady 



LIFE OF NELSON. 3 

when she saw him, " that hunger and fear did not 
drive you home." "Fear! grandmamma," replied 
the future hero, " I never saw fear : what is it ? " 
Once, after the winter holidays, when he and his 
brother William had set off on horseback to return to 
school, they came back, because there had been a 
fall of snow ; and William, who did not much like the 
journey, said it was too deep for them to venture on. 
" If that be the case," said the father, " you certainly 
shall not go ; but make another attempt, and I will 
leave it to your honour. If the road is dangerous, you 
may return : but remember, boys, I leave it to your 
honour." The snow was deep enough to have afforded 
them a reasonable excuse ; but Horatio was not to be 
prevailed upon to turn back. " We must go on," said 
he : " remember, brother, it was left to our honour ! " 
There were some fine pears growing in the school- 
master's garden, which the boys regarded as lawful 
booty, and in the highest degree tempting ; but the 
boldest among them were afraid to venture for the 
prize. Horatio volunteered upon this service : he was 
lowered down at night from the bedroom window by 
some sheets, plundered the tree, was drawn up with 
the pears, and then distributed them among his school- 
fellows, without reserving any for himself. " He only 
took them," he said, "because every other boy was 
afraid." 

Early on a cold and dark spring morning Mr. Nel- 
son's servant arrived at this school at North Walsham 
with the expected summons for Horatio to join his 
ship. The parting from his brother William, who 



4 LIFE OF NELSON. 

had been for so many years his playmate and bed- 
fellow, was a painful effort, and was the beginning of 
those privations which are the sailor's lot through 
life. He accompanied his father to London. The 
" Raisonnable " was lying in the Medway. He was 
put into the Chatham stage, and on its arrival was 
set down with the rest of the passengers, and left to 
find his way on board as he could. After wandering 
about in the cold, without being able to reach the 
ship, an officer observed the forlorn appearance of 
the boy, questioned him, and happening to be 
acquainted with his uncle, took him home, and gave 
him some refreshments. When he got on board, 
Captain Suckling was not in the ship, nor had any 
person been apprised of the boy's coming. He 
paced the deck the whole remainder of the day, with- 
out being noticed by anyone ; and it was not till 
the second day that somebody, as he expressed it, 
" took compassion on him." The pain which is felt 
when we are first transplanted from our native soil — 
when the living branch is cut from the parent tree — 
is one of the most poignant which we have to endure 
through life. There are after-griefs which wound 
more deeply, which leave behind them scars never 
to be effaced, which bruise the spirit, and sometimes 
break the heart : but never, never do we feel so keenly 
the want of love, the necessity of being loved, and 
the sense of utter desertion, as when we first leave 
the haven of home, and are, as it were, pushed off 
upon the stream of life. Added to these feelings, the 
sea-boy has to endure physical hardships, and the 



LIFE OF NELSON. 5 

privation of every comfort, even of sleep. Nelson 
had a feeble body and an affectionate heart, and he 
remembered through life his first days of wretched- 
ness in the service. 

The " Raisonnable " having been commissioned 
on account of the dispute respecting the Falkland 
Islands, was paid off as soon as the difference with 
the Court of Spain was accommodated, and Captain 
Suckling was removed to the " Triumph," 74, then 
stationed as a guardship in the Thames. This was 
considered as too inactive a life for a boy, and Nelson 
was therefore sent a voyage to the West Indies in a 
merchant-ship, commanded by Mr. John Rathbone, 
an excellent seaman, who had served as master's- 
mate under Captain Suckling in the " Dreadnought." 
He returned a practical seaman, but with a hatred 
of the king's service, and a saying then common 
among the sailors — " Aft, the most honor ; forward, 
the better man." Rathbone had probably been dis- 
appointed and disgusted in the navy ; and, with no 
unfriendly intentions, warned Nelson against a pro- 
fession which he himself had found hopeless. His 
uncle received him on board the " Triumph " on his 
return, and discovering his dislike to the navy, took 
the best means of reconciling him to it. He held it 
out as a reward, that if he attended well to his navi- 
gation, he should go in the cutter and decked long- 
boat, which was attached to the commanding officer's 
ship at Chatham. Thus he became a good pilot for 
vessels of that description from Chatham to the 
Tower, and down the Swin Channel to the North 



6 LIFE OF NELSON. 

Foreland, and acquired a confidence among rocks 
and sands of which he often felt the value. 

Nelson had not been many months on board the 
" Triumph," when his love of enterprise was excited 
by hearing that two ships were fitting out for a voy- 
age of discovery toward the North Pole. In conse- 
quence of the difficulties which were expected on 
such a service, these vessels were to take out effect- 
ive men, instead of the usual number of boys. This, 
however, did not deter him from soliciting to be 
received, and by his uncle's interest he was admitted 
as coxswain under Captain Lutwidge, second in 
command. The voyage was undertaken in com- 
pliance with an application from the Royal Society. 
The Hon. Captain Constantine John Phipps, eldest 
son of Lord Mulgrave, volunteered his services. The 
" Racehorse " and " Carcass " bombs were selected, 
as the strongest ships, and therefore best adapted for 
such a voyage ; and they were taken into dock and 
strengthened, to render them as secure as possible 
against the ice. Two masters of Greenlandmen 
were employed as pilots for each ship. No expedition 
was ever more carefully fitted out ; and the First 
Lord of the Admiralty, Lord Sandwich, with a laud- 
able solicitude, went on board himself, before their 
departure, to see that everything had been completed 
to the wish of the officers. The ships were provided 
with a simple and excellent apparatus for distilling 
fresh from salt water, the invention of Dr. Irving, 
who accompanied the expedition. It consisted 
merely in fitting a tube to the ship's kettle, and ap- 



LIFE OF NELSON. 7 

plying a wet mop to the surface as the vapor was 
passing. By these means, from thirty-four to forty 
gallons were produced every day. 

They sailed from the Nore on the 4th of June : on 
the 6th of the following month they were in lat. 79 
56' 39" ; long. 9 43' 30" E. The next day, about 
the place where most of the old discoverers had been 
stopped, the " Racehorse" was beset with ice ; but 
they heaved her through with ice-anchors. Captain 
Phipps continued ranging along the ice northward 
and westward till the 24th : he then tried to the east- 
ward. On the 30th he was in lat. 8o° 13'; long. 
1 8° 48' E., among the islands and in the ice, with 
no appearance of an opening for the ships. The 
weather was exceedingly fine, mild, and unusually 
clear. Here they were becalmed in a large bay, with 
three apparent openings between the islands which 
formed it ; but everywhere, as far as they could see, 
surrounded with ice. There was not a breath of air ; 
the water perfectly smooth ; the ice covered with 
snow, low and even, except a few broken pieces near 
the edge; and the pools of water in the middle of 
the ice-fields just crusted over with young ice. On 
the next day the ice closed upon them, and no open- 
ing was to be seen anywhere, except a hole, or lake 
as it might be called, of about a mile and a half in 
circumference, where the ships lay fast to the ice 
with their ice-anchors. They filled their casks with 
water from these ice-fields, which was very pure and 
soft. The men were playing on the ice all day : but 
the Greenland pilots who were farther than they had 



8 LIFE OF NELSON. 

ever been before, and considered that the season was 
advancing, were alarmed at being thus beset. 

The next clay there was not the smallest opening, the 
ships were within less than two lengths of each other, 
separated by ice, and neither having room to turn. 
The ice, which yesterday had been all flat, and 
almost level with the water's edge, was now in many 
places forced higher than themainyard, by the pieces 
squeezing together. A day of thick fog followed : it 
was succeeded by clear weather ; but the passage by 
which the ships had entered from the westward was 
closed, and no open water was in sight either in that 
or any other quarter. By the pilots' advice the men 
were set to work to cut a passage and warp through 
the small openings to the westward. They sawed 
through pieces twelve feet thick ; and this labour con- 
tinued the whole day, during which their utmost ef- 
forts did not move the ships a})ove three hundred 
yards ; while they were driven, together with the ice, 
far to the N. E. and E. by the current. Sometimes 
a field of several acres square would be lifted up be- 
tween two larger islands, and incorporated with them ; 
and thus these larger pieces continued to grow by 
aggregation. Another day passed, and there seemed 
no probability of getting the ships out, without a 
strong E. or N. E. wind. The season was far ad- 
vanced, and every hour lessened the chance of extri- 
cating themselves. Young as he was, Nelson was 
appointed to command one of the boats which were 
sent out to explore a passage into the open water. 
It was the means of saving a boat belonging to the 



LIFE OF NELSON. 9 

" Racehorse " from a singular but imminent danger. 
Some of the officers had fired at and wounded a 
walrus. As no other animal has so human-like an 
expression in his countenance, so also is there none 
that seems to possess more of the passions of hu- 
manity. The wounded one dived immediately, and 
brought up a number of its companions ; and they all 
joined in an attack upon the boat. They wrested an 
oar from one of the men ; and it was with the utmost 
difficulty that the crew could prevent them from 
staving or upsetting her, till the " Carcass's " boat 
came up : and the walruses, finding their enemies 
thus reinforced, dispersed. Young Nelson exposed 
himself in a more daring manner. One night, during 
the mid-watch, he stole from the ship with one of his 
comrades, taking advantage of a rising fog, and set 
out over the ice in pursuit of a bear. It was not long 
before they were missed. The fog thickened, and 
Captain Lutwidge and his officers became exceed- 
ingly alarmed for their safety. Between three and 
four in the morning the weather cleared, and the two 
adventurers were seen at a considerable distance 
from the ship, attacking a huge bear. The signal for 
them to return was immediately made ; Nelson's 
comrade called upon him to obey it, but in vain ; his 
musket had flashed in the pan ; their ammunition 
was expended ; and a chasm in the ice, which divided 
him from the bear, probably preserved his life. 
" Never mind," he cried ; " do but let me get a blow 
at this devil with the butt-end of my musket, and we 
shall have him." Captain Lutwidge, however, see- 



io LIFE OF NELSON. 

ing his danger, fired a gun, which had the desired 
effect of frightening the beast ; and the boy then re- 
turned, somewhat afraid of the consequences of his 
trespass. The captain reprimanded him sternly for 
conduct so unworthy of the office which he filled, and 
desired to know what motive he could have for hunt- 
ing a bear. " Sir," said he, pouting his lip, as he was 
wont to do when agitated, " I wished to kill the bear, 
that I might carry the skin to my father." 

A party were now sent to an island, about twelve 
miles off (named Walden's Island in the charts, from 
the midshipman who was intrusted with this ser- 
vice), to see where the open water lay. They came 
back on the 6th, with information that the ice, though 
close all about them, was open to the westward, 
round the point by which they came in. They said also 
that upon the island they had had a fresh east wind. 
This intelligence considerably abated the hopes of 
the crew, for where they lay it had been almost calm, 
and their main dependence had been upon the effect 
of an easterly wind in clearing the bay. There was 
but one alternative ; either to wait the event of the 
weather upon the ships, or to betake themselves to 
the boats. The likelihood that it might be necessary 
to sacrifice the ships had been foreseen : the boats 
accordingly were adapted, both in number and size, 
to transport, in case of emergency, the whole crew ; 
and there were Dutch whalers upon the coast, in 
which they could all be conveyed to Europe. As for 
wintering where they were, that dreadful experiment 
had been already tried too often. No time was to be 






LIFE OF NELSON. 1 1 

lost ; the ships had driven into shoal water, having 
but fourteen fathoms. Should they, or the ice to 
which they were fast, take the ground, they must in- 
evitably be lost : and at this time they were driving 
fast toward some rocks on the N. E. Captain Phipps 
sent for the officers of both ships, and told them his 
intention of preparing the boats for going away. 
They were immediately hoisted out, and the fitting 
began. Canvas bread-bags were made, in case it 
should be necessary suddenly to desert the vessels ; 
and men were sent with the lead and line to the 
northward and eastward, to sound wherever they 
found cracks in the ice, that they might have notice 
before the ice took the ground ; for, in that case, 
the ships must instantly have been crushed, or overset. 
On the 7th they began to haul the boats over the 
ice, Nelson having command of the four-oared 
cutter. The men behaved excellently well, like true 
British seamen : they seemed reconciled to the 
thought of leaving the ships, and had full confidence 
in their officers. About noon, the ice appeared 
rather more open near the vessels ; and as the wind 
was easterly, though there was but little of it, the 
sails were set, and they got about a mile to the west- 
ward. They moved very slowly, and were not now 
nearly so far to the westward as when they were first 
beset. However, all sail was kept upon them, to 
force them through whenever the ice slacked the 
least. Whatever exertions were made, it could not 
be possible to get the boats to the water edge before 
the 14th ; and if the situation of the ships should not 



12 LIFE OF NELSON. 

alter by that time, it would not be justifiable to stay 
longer by them. The commander therefore resolved 
to carry on both attempts together, moving the boats 
constantly, and taking every opportunity of getting 
the ships through. A party was sent out next day 
to the westward, to examine the state of the ice : 
they returned with tidings that it was very heavy and 
close, consisting chiefly of large fields. The ships, 
however, moved something, and the ice itself was 
drifting westward. There was a thick fog, so that it 
was impossible to ascertain what advantage had been 
gained. It continued on the 9th ; but the ships were 
moved a little through some very small openings : the 
mist cleared off in the afternoon ; and it was then 
perceived that they had driven much more than could 
have been expected to the westward, and that the 
ice itself had driven still farther. In the course of 
the clay they got past the boats, and took them on 
board again. On the morrow the wind sprang up to 
the N. N. E. All sail was set, and the ships forced 
their way through a great deal of very heavy ice. 
They frequently struck, and with such force, that one 
stroke broke the shank of the " Racehorse's " best 
bower anchor : but the vessels made way ; and by noon 
they had cleared the ice, and were out at sea. The 
next day they anchored in Smeerenberg Harbor, 
close to that island of which the westernmost point 
is called Hakluyt's Headland, in honor of the great 
promoter and compiler of our English voyages of 
discovery. 

Here they remained a few days, that the men 



LIFE OF NELSON. 13 

might rest after their fatigue. No insect was to be 
seen in this dreary country, nor any species of reptile, 
not even the common earthworm. Large bodies of 
ice, called icebergs, filled up the valleys between 
high mountains, so dark as, when contrasted with 
the snow, to appear black. The colour of the ice was 
a lively light green. Opposite to the place where 
they fixed their observatory was one of these icebergs, 
above three hundred feet high : its side towards the 
sea was nearly perpendicular, and a stream of water 
issued from it. Large pieces frequently broke off, 
and thundered down into the sea. There was no 
thunder nor lightning during the whole time they 
were in these latitudes. The sky was generally 
loaded with hard white clouds, from which it was 
never entirely free even in the clearest weather. 
They always knew when they were approaching the 
ice long before they saw it, by a bright appearance 
near the horizon, which the Greenlandmen called the 
blink of the ice. The season was now so far advanced, 
that nothing more could have been attempted, if in- 
deed anything had been left untried : but the summer 
had been unusually favourable, and they had carefully 
surveyed the wall of ice extending for more than 
twenty degrees between the latitudes of 8o° and 8i°, 
without the smallest appearance of any opening. 

The ships were paid off shortly after their return 
to England ; and Nelson was then placed, by his 
uncle, with Captain Farmer, in the " Seahorse," of 
20 guns, then going out to the East Indies in the 
squadron under Sir Edward Hughes. He was 



14 LIFE OF NELSON. 

stationed in the foretop at watch and watch. His 
good conduct attracted the attention of the master 
(afterwards Captain Surridge), in whose watch he 
was ; and, upon his recommendation, the captain 
rated him as midshipman. At this time his counte- 
nance was florid, and his appearance rather stout and 
athletic : but, when he had been about eighteen 
months in India, he felt the effects of that climate, 
so perilous to European constitutions. The disease 
baffled all power of medicine ; he was reduced almost 
to a skeleton ; the use of his limbs was for some 
time entirely lost ; and the only hope that remained 
was from a voyage home. Accordingly he was 
brought home by Captain Pigot, in the " Dolphin : " 
and had it not been for the attentive and careful 
kindness of that officer on the way, Nelson would 
never have lived to reach his native shores. He had 
formed acquaintance with Sir Charles Pole, Sir 
Thomas Troubridge, and other distinguished officers, 
then, like himself, beginning their career : he had 
left them pursuing that career in full enjoyment of 
health and hope, and was returning from a country 
in which all things were to him new and interesting, 
with a body broken down by sickness, and spirits 
which had sunk with his strength. Long afterwards, 
when the name of Nelson was known as widely as 
that of England itself, he spoke of the feelings which 
he at this time endured. " I felt impressed," said 
he, " with a feeling that I should never rise in my 
profession. My mind was staggered with a view of 
the difficulties I had to surmount, and the little 



LIFE OF NELSON. 15 

interest I possessed. I could discover no means of 
reaching the object of my ambition. After a long 
and gloomy reverie, in which I almost wished myself 
overboard, a sudden glow of patriotism was kindled 
within me, and presented my king and country as 
my patron. Well, then," I exclaimed, " I will be a 
hero ! and, confiding in Providence, I will brave 
every clanger!" Long afterwards Nelson loved to 
speak of the feeling of that moment : and from that 
time, he often said, a radiant orb was suspended in 
his mind's eye, which urged him onward to renown. 
The state of mind in which these feelings began, is 
what the mystics mean by their season of darkness, 
of aridity, and of desertion. If the animal spirits of 
coarser enthusiasts fail, they represent it as an actual 
temptation, a snare of Satan. The enthusiasm of 
Nelson's nature had taken a different direction, but 
in its essence it was the same. He knew to what 
the previous state of dejection was to be attributed ; 
that an enfeebled body, and a mind depressed, had 
cast this shade over his soul : but he always seemed 
willing to believe, that the sunshine which succeeded 
bore with it a prophetic glory, and that the light 
which led him on was " light from heaven." 

His interest, however, was far better than he im- 
agined. During his absence, Captain Suckling had 
been made Comptroller of the Navy ; his health had 
materially improved upon the voyage ; and, as soon 
as the " Dolphin " was paid off, he was appointed 
acting lieutenant in the "Worcester," 64, Captain 
Mark Robinson, then going out with convoy to Gib- 



16 LIFE OF NELSON. 

raltar. Soon after nis return, on the 8th of April 
1777, he passed his examination for a lieutenancy. 
Captain Suckling sat at the head of the board, and 
when the examination had ended, in a manner highly- 
honourable to Nelson, rose from his seat, and intro- 
duced him to the examining captains as his nephew. 
They expressed their wonder that he had not informed 
them of this relationship before ; he replied that he 
did not wish the younker to be favoured ; he knew his 
nephew would pass a good examination, and he had 
not been deceived. The next day Nelson received 
his commission as second lieutenant of the " Lowes- 
toffe" frigate, Captain William Locker, then fitting 
out for Jamaica. 

American and French privateers, under American 
colours, were at that time harassing our trade in the 
West Indies : even a frigate was not sufficiently 
active for Nelson, and he repeatedly got appointed to 
the command of one of the " Lowestoffe's " tenders. 
During one of their cruises the " Lowestoffe " captured 
an American letter-of-marque : it was blowing a 
gale, and a heavy sea running. The first lieutenant 
being ordered to board the prize, went below to put 
on his hanger. It happened to be mislaid ; and 
while he was seeking it, Captain Locker came on 
deck. Perceiving the boat still alongside, and in 
danger every moment of being swamped, and being 
extremely anxious that the privateer should be in- 
stantly taken in charge, because he feared that it 
would otherwise founder, he exclaimed, " Have I no 
officer in the ship who can board the prize ? " Nelson 



LIFE OF NELSON. 17 

did not offer himself immediately, waiting, with his 
usual sense of propriety, for the first lieutenant's re- 
turn ; but hearing the master volunteer, he jumped 
into the boat, saying, " It is my turn now ; and if I 
come back, it is yours." The American, who had 
carried a heavy press of sail in hope of escaping, was 
so completely water-logged, that the " Lowestoffe's " 
boat went in on deck, and out again, with the sea. 

About this time he lost his uncle. Captain Locker, 
however, who had perceived the excellent qualities 
of Nelson, and formed a friendship for him, which 
continued during his life, recommended him warmly 
to Sir Peter Parker, then commander-in-chief upon 
that station. In consequence of this recommenda- 
tion he was removed into the " Bristol " flag-ship, 
and Lieutenant Cuthbert Collingwood succeeded him 
in the " Lowestoffe." He soon became first lieuten- 
ant ; and on the 8th of December 1778, was appoint- 
ed commander of the " Badger " brig : Collingwood 
again succeeding him in the " Bristol." While the 
" Badger " was lying in Montego Bay, Jamaica, the 
" Glasgow," of 20 guns, came in and anchored there, 
and in two hours was in flames, the steward having 
set fire to her while stealing rum out of the after- 
hold. Her crew were leaping into the water, when 
Nelson came up in his boats, made them throw their 
powder overboard, and point their guns upward; 
and, by his presence of mind and personal exertions, 
prevented the loss of life which would otherwise have 
ensued. On the nth of June 1779, he was made 
post into the " Hinchinbrook," of 28 guns, an enemy's 



1 8 LIFE OF NELSON. 

merchantman, sheathed with wood, which had been 
taken into the service. A short time after he left the 
" Lowestoffe," that ship, with a small squadron, 
stormed the fort of St. Fernando de Omoa, on the 
south side of the bay of Honduras, and captured 
some register ships which were lying under its guns. 
Two hundred and fifty quintals of quicksilver, and 
three millions of piastres, were the reward of this 
enterprise: and it is characteristic of Nelson, that 
the chance by which he missed a share in such a 
prize, is never mentioned in any of his letters ; nor is 
it likely that it ever excited even a momentary feeling 
of vexation. 

Nelson was fortunate in possessing good interest 
at the time when it could be most serviceable to him : 
his promotion had been almost as rapid as it could 
be ; and before he had attained the age of twenty-one 
he had gained that rank which brought all the honours 
of the service within his reach. No opportunity, 
indeed, had yet been given him of distinguishing 
himself ; but he was thoroughly master of his pro- 
fession, and his zeal and ability were acknowledged 
wherever he was known. Count d'Estaing, with a 
fleet of 125 sail, men-of-war and transports, and a 
reputed force of five-and-twenty thousand men, 
threatened Jamaica from St. Domingo. Nelson offered 
his services to the Admiral and to Governor-General 
Dalling, and was appointed to command the bat- 
teries of Fort Charles, at Port Royal. Not more than 
seven thousand men could be mustered for the de- 
fence of the island, — a number wholly inadequate to 



LIFE OF NELSON. 19 

resist the force which threatened them. Of this Nel- 
son was so well aware, that when he wrote to his 
friends in England, he told them they must not be 
surprised to hear of his learning to speak French. 
D'Estaing, however, was either not aware of his own 
superiority, or not equal to the command with which 
he was entrusted ; he attempted nothing with this 
formidable armament ; and General Dalling was 
thus left to execute a project which he had formed 
against the Spanish colonies. 

This project was to take Fort San Juan, on the 
river of that name, which flows from Lake Nicaragua 
into the Atlantic ; make himself master of the lake 
itself, and of the cities of Granada and Leon ; and 
thus cut off the communication of the Spaniards be- 
tween their northern and southern possessions in 
America. Here it is that a canal between the two 
seas may most easily be formed — a work more im- 
portant in its consequences than any which has ever 
yet been effected by human power. Lord George 
Germaine, at that time Secretary of State for the 
American department, approved the plan : and as 
discontents at that time were known to prevail in the 
Nuevo Reyno, in Popayan, and in Peru, the more 
sanguine part of the English began to dream of 
acquiring an empire in one part of America more 
extensive than that which they were on the point of 
losing in another. General Dalling's plans were well 
formed ; but the history and the nature of the country 
had not been studied as accurately as its geography. 
The difficulties which occurred in fitting out the 



20 LIFE OF NELSON. 

expedition delayed it till the season was too far 
advanced ; and the men were thus sent to adventure 
themselves, not so much against an enemy whom 
they would have beaten, as against a climate which 
would do the enemy's work. 

Early in the year 1780, five hundred men, destined 
for this service, were convoyed by Nelson from Port 
Royal to Cape Gracias a Dios, in Honduras. Not a 
native was to be seen when they landed : they had 
been taught that the English came with no other intent 
than that of enslaving them, and sending them to 
Jamaica. After a while, however, one of them ven- 
tured down, confiding in his knowledge of one of the 
party ; and by his means the neighboring tribes were 
conciliated with presents, and brought in. The troops 
were encamped on a swampy and unwholesome plain, 
where they were joined by a party of the 79th regi- 
ment, from Black River, who were already in a de- 
plorable state of sickness. Having remained here a 
month, they proceeded, anchoring frequently, along 
the Mosquito shore, to collect their Indian allies who 
were to furnish proper boats for the river, and to 
accompany them. They reached the River San 
Juan, March 24 ; and here, according to his orders, 
Nelson's services were to terminate ; but not a man 
in the expedition had ever been up the river, or knew 
the distances of any fortification from its mouth : and 
he, not being one who would turn back when so 
much was to be done, resolved to carry the soldiers 
up. About two hundred, therefore, were embarked 
in the Mosquito shore craft, and in two of the 



LIFE OF NELSON. 21 

" Hinchinbrook's " boats, and they began their way. 
It was the latter end of the dry season, the worst 
time for such an expedition ; the river was con- 
sequently low. Indians were sent forward through 
narrow channels between shoals and sandbanks ; and 
the men were frequently obliged to quit the boats, 
and exert their utmost strength to drag or thrust 
them along. This labor continued for several days, 
then they came into deeper water ; but then they had 
sometimes currents and rapids to contend with, 
which would have been insurmountable, had it not 
been for the skill of the Indians in such difficulties. 
The brunt of the labor was borne by them, and by 
the sailors — men never accustomed to stand alool 
when any exertion of strength or hardihood is re- 
quired. The soldiers, less accustomed to rely upon 
themselves, were of little use. But all equally endured 
the violent heat of the sun, rendered more intense by 
being reflected from the white shoals, and because 
the high woods on both sides of the river were fre- 
quently so close as to prevent all refreshing circulation 
of air ; and during the night all were equally exposed 
to the heavy and unwholesome dews. 

On the 9th of April they reached an island in the 
river called St. Bartolomeo, which the Spaniards had 
fortified as an outpost, with a small semicircular 
battery, mounting nine or ten swivels, and manned 
with sixteen or eighteen men. It commanded the 
river in a rapid and difficult part of the navigation. 
Nelson, at the head of a few of his seamen, leaped 
upon the beach. The ground upon which he sprung 



22 LIFE OF NELSON. 

was so muddy that he had some difficulty in extricat- 
ing himself, and lost his shoes : barefooted, however, 
he advanced, and, in his own phrase, boarded the 
battery. In this resolute attempt he was bravely sup- 
ported by Despard, who was at that time a captain 
in the army, and whose after fate was so disastrous. 
The Castle of St. Juan is situated about sixteen miles 
higher up : the stores and ammunition, however, were 
landed a few miles below the castle, and the men had 
to march through woods almost impassable. One of 
the men was bitten under the eye by a snake, which 
darted upon him from the bough of a tree. He was 
unable to proceed for the violence of the pain ; and 
when, after a short while, some of his comrades were 
sent back to assist him, he was dead, and the body 
already putrid. Nelson himself narrowly escaped a 
similar fate. He had ordered his hammock to be 
slung under some trees, being excessively fatigued, 
and was sleeping when a monitory lizard passed 
across his face. The Indians happily observed the 
reptile, and knowing what it indicated, awoke him. 
He started up, and found one of the deadliest serpents 
of the country coiled up at his feet. He suffered 
from poison of another kind; for, drinking at a spring 
in which some boughs of the manchineel had been 
thrown, the effects were so severe, as, in the opinion 
of some of his friends, to inflict a lasting injury upon 
his constitution. 

The Castle of St. Juan is thirty-two miles below 
the Lake of Nicaragua, from which it issues, and 
sixty-nine from the mouth of the river. Boats reach 



LIFE OF NELSON. 23 

the sea from thence in a day and a half ; but their 
navigation back, even when unladen, is the labour of 
nine days. The English appeared before it on the 
eleventh, two days after they had taken St. Barto- 
lomeo. Nelson's advice was, that it should instantly 
be carried by assault ; but Nelson was not the com- 
mander, and it was thought proper to observe all 
the formalities of a siege. Ten days were wasted 
before this could be commenced : it was a work more 
of fatigue than of danger ; but fatigue was more to 
be dreaded than the enemy. The rains set in ; and 
could the garrison have held out a little longer, dis- 
ease would have rid them of their invaders. Even 
the Indians sunk under it, the victims of unusual 
exertion and of their own excesses. The place sur- 
rendered on the' twenty-fourth. But victory procured 
to the conquerors none of that relief which had been 
expected ; the castle was worse than a prison ; and 
it contained nothing which could contribute to the 
recovery of the sick, or the preservation of those who 
were yet unaffected. The huts, which served for 
hospitals, were surrounded with filth and with the 
putrefying hides of slaughtered cattle — almost suffi- 
cient of themselves to have engendered pestilence : 
and when at last orders were given to erect a con- 
venient hospital, the contagion had become so general, 
that there were none who could work at it ; for, be- 
sides the few who were able to perform garrison 
duty, there were not orderly men enough to assist 
the sick. Added to these evils, there was the want 
of all needful remedies ; for though the expedition 



24 LIFE OF NELSON. 

had been amply provided with hospital stores, river- 
craft enough had not been procured for transporting 
the requisite baggage ; and when much was to be 
left behind, provision for sickness was that which of 
all things men in health would be most ready to 
leave. Now, when these medicines were required, 
the river was swollen and so turbulent that its up- 
ward navigation was almost impracticable. At 
length even the task of burying the dead was more 
than the living could perform, and the bodies were 
tossed into the stream, or left for beasts of prey, 
and for the gallinazos — those dreadful carrion-birds, 
which do not always wait for death before they begin 
their work. Five months the English persisted in 
what may be called this war against nature ; they 
then left a few men, who seemed proof against the 
climate, to retain the castle till the Spaniards should 
choose, when the fit season arrived, to retake it, and 
make them prisoners. The rest abandoned their 
baleful conquest. Eighteen hundred men were sent 
to different posts upon this wretched expedition ; not 
more than three hundred and eighty ever returned. 
The " Hinchinbrook's " complement consisted of two 
hundred men ; eighty-seven took to their beds in one 
night, and of the whole crew not more than ten 
survived. 

Nelson himself was saved by a timely removal. In 
a few days after the commencement of the siege he 
was seized with the prevailing dysentery : meantime 
Captain Glover (son of the author of " Leonidas ") 
died, and Nelson was appointed to succeed him in 



LIFE OF NELSON. 25 

the " Janus," of 44 guns. He returned to the harbour 
the day before St. Juan surrendered, and immediately 
sailed for Jamaica in the sloop which brought the news 
of his appointment. He was, however, so greatly 
reduced by the disorder, that when they reached 
Port Royal he was carried ashore in his cot ; and 
finding himself, after a partial amendment, unable 
to retain the command of his new ship, he was com- 
pelled to ask leave to return to England, as the only 
means of recovery. Captain (afterwards Admiral) 
Cornwallis took him home in the " Lion ; " and to 
his care and kindness Nelson believed himself in- 
debted for his life. He went immediately to Bath, in 
a miserable state ; so helpless, that he was carried 
to and from his bed ; and the act of moving him pro- 
duced the most violent pain. In three months he 
was recovered, and immediately he hastened to Lon- 
don, and applied for employment. After an interval 
of about four months he was appointed to the " Al- 
bemarle," of 28 guns, a French merchantman which 
had been purchased from the captors for the king's 
service. 

His health was not yet thoroughly re-established ; 
and while he was employed in getting his ship ready, 
he again became so ill as hardly to be able to keep 
out of bed. Yet in this state, still suffering from the 
fatal effect of a West Indian climate, as if, it might 
almost be supposed, he said, to try his constitution, 
he was sent to the North Seas, and kept there the 
whole winter. The asperity with which he mentioned 
this so many years afterwards, evinces how deeply he 



26 LIFE OF NELSON. 

resented a mode of conduct equally cruel to the in- 
dividual and detrimental to the service. It was dur- 
ing the armed neutrality, and when they anchored 
off Elsineur, the Danish admiral sent on board, 
desiring to be informed what ships had arrived, and to 
have their force written down. " The ' Albemarle, 
said Nelson to the messenger, " is one of His Brit- 
annic Majesty's ships. You are at liberty, sir, to 
count the guns as you go down the side ; and you 
may assure the Danish admiral that, if necessary, 
they shall all be well served." During this voyage 
he gained a considerable knowledge of the Danish 
coast and its soundings, greatly to the advantage of 
his country in after times. The " Albemarle " was 
not a good ship, and was several times nearly over- 
set, in consequence of the masts having been made 
much too long for her. On her return to England 
they were shortened, and some other improvements 
made, at Nelson's suggestion. Still he always insisted 
that her first owners, the French, had taught her to 
run away, as she was never a good sailer, except when 
going directly before the wind. 

On their return to the Downs, while he was ashore 
visiting the senior officer, there came on so heavy a 
gale, that almost all the vessels drove, and a store- 
ship came athwarthawse of the " Albemarle." Nel- 
son feared she would drive on the Goodwin Sands : 
he ran to the beach ; but even the Deal boatmen 
thought it impossible to get on board, such was the 
violence of the storm. At length some of the most 
intrepid offered to make the attempt for fifteen 



LIFE OF NELSON. 27 

guineas ; and, to the astonishment and fear of all the 
beholders, he embarked during the height of the 
tempest. With great difficulty and imminent danger 
he succeeded in reaching her. She lost her bowsprit 
and foremast, but escaped further injury. He was 
now ordered to Quebec, where his surgeon told him 
he would certainly be laid up by the climate. Many 
of his friends urged him to represent this to Admiral 
Keppel ; but, having received his orders from Lord 
Sandwich, there appeared to him an indelicacy in 
applying to his successor to have them altered. 

Accordingly, he sailed for Canada. During her 
first cruise on that station, the " Albemarle " captured 
a fishing schooner, which contained in her cargo 
nearly all the property that her master possessed, and 
the poor fellow had a large family at home, anxiously 
expecting him. Nelson employed him as a pilot in 
Boston Bay, then restored him the schooner and car- 
go, and gave him a certificate to secure him against 
being captured by any other vessel, The man came 
off afterwards to the "Albemarle," at the hazard of 
his life, with a present of sheep, poultry, and fresh 
provisions. A most valuable supply it proved, for 
the scurvey was raging on board ; this was in the 
middle of August, and the ship's company had not 
had a fresh meal since the beginning of April. The 
certificate was preserved at Boston in memory of an 
act of unusual generosity ; and now that the fame of 
Nelson has given interest to everything connected 
with his name, it is regarded as a relic. The '* Albe- 
marle " had a narrow escape upon this cruise. Four 



28 LIFE OF NELSON. 

French sail of the line and a frigate, which had come 
out of Boston harbour, gave chase to her ; and Nel- 
son, perceiving that they beat him in sailing, boldly ran 
among the numerous shoals of St. George's Bank, 
confiding in his own skill in pilotage. Captain Salter, 
in the " St. Margaretta," had escaped the French 
fleet, by a similar manoeuvre, not long before. The 
frigate alone continued warily to pursue him ; but as 
soon as he perceived that this enemy was unsupported, 
he shortened sail, and hove to : upon which the 
Frenchman thought it advisable to give over the pur- 
suit, and sail in quest of his consorts. 

At Quebec Nelson became acquainted with Alexan- 
der Davison ; by whose interference he was prevent- 
ed from making what would have been called an 
imprudent marriage. The " Albemarle " was about 
to leave the station, her captain had taken leave of his 
friends, and was gone down the river to the place 
of anchorage ; when the next morning, as Davison 
was walking on the beach, to his surprise he saw 
Nelson coming back in his boat. Upon inquiring 
the cause of this reappearance, Nelson took his arm 
to walk towards the town, and told him he found it 
utterly impossible to leave Quebec without again see- 
ing the woman whose society had contributed so 
much to his happiness there, and offering her his 
hand. " If you do," said his friend, "your utter ruin 
must inevitably follow." " Then let it follow," cried 
Nelson, " for I am resolved to do it." " And I," re- 
plied Davison, "am resolved you shall not." Nelson, 
however, upon this occasion was less resolute than 



LIFE OF NELSON. 29 

his friend, and suffered himself to be led back to the 
boat. 

The " Albemarle " was under orders to convoy a 
fleet of transports to New York. " A very pretty 
job," said her captain, "at this late season of the 
year " (October was far advanced), " for our sails are 
at this moment frozen to the yards." On his arrival 
at Sandy Hook, he waited on the commander-in-chief, 
Admiral Digby, who told him he was come on a fine 
station for making prize-money. " Yes, sir," Nelson 
made answer ; " but the West Indies is the station 
for honour." Lord Hood, with a detachment of 
Rodney's victorious fleet, was at that time at Sandy 
Hook : he had been intimate with Captain Suckling ; 
and Nelson, who was desirous of nothing but honour, 
requested him to ask for the " Albemarle," that he 
might go to that station where it was most likely to 
be obtained. Admiral Digby reluctantly parted with 
him. His professional merit was already well known ; 
and Lord Hood, on introducing him to Prince Wil- 
liam Henry, as the Duke of Clarence was then called, 
told the prince, if he wished to ask any questions re- 
specting naval tactics, Captain Nelson could give 
him as much information as any officer in the fleet. 
The Duke, who, to his own honour, became from that 
time the firm friend of Nelson, describes him as ap- 
pearing the merest boy of a captain he had ever seen, 
dressed in a full-laced uniform, an old-fashioned 
waistcoat with long flaps, and his lank, unpowdered 
hair tied in a stiff Hessian tail of extraordinary 
length ; making, altogether, so remarkable a figure, 



3 o LIFE OF NELSON. 

" that," says the Duke, " I had never seen anything 
like it before, nor could I imagine who he was, nor 
what he came about. But his address and conversa- 
tion were irresistibly pleasing ; and when he spoke 
on professional subjects, it was with an enthusiasm 
that showed he was no common being." 

It was expected that the French would attempt 
some of the passages between the Bahamas : and 
Lord Hood, thinking of this, said to Nelson, " I sup- 
pose, sir, from the length of time you were cruising 
among the Bahama Keys, you must be a good pilot 
there." He replied, with that constant readiness to 
render justice to every man, which was so conspicu- 
ous in all his conduct through life, that he was well 
acquainted with them himself, but that in that respect 
his second lieutenant was far his superior. The French 
got into Puerto Cabello on the coast of Venezuela. 
Nelson was cruising between that port and La Guay- 
ra, under French colours, for the purpose of obtain- 
ing information ; when a king's launch, belonging to 
the Spaniards, passed near, and being hailed in 
French, came alongside without suspicion, and an- 
swered all questions that were asked concerning the 
number and force of the enemy's ships. The crew, 
however, were not a little surprised when they were 
taken on board, and found themselves prisoners. One 
of the party went by the name of the Count de Deux 
Ponts. He was, however, a prince of the German 
empire, and brother to the heir of the electorate of 
Bavaria : his companions were French officers of dis- 
tinction, and men of science, who had been collect- 



LIFE OF NELSON. 3* 

ing specimens in the various branches of natural 
history. Nelson, having entertained them with the 
best his table could afford, told them they were at 
liberty to depart with their boat and all that it con- 
tained. He only required them to promise that they 
would consider themselves as prisoners, if the com- 
mander-in-chief should refuse to acquiesce in their 
being thus liberated,— a circumstance which was not 
by any means likely to happen. Tidings soon ar- 
rived that the preliminaries of peace had been signed ; 
and the " Albemarle " returned to England and was 
paid off. Nelson's first business after he got to 
London, even before he went to see his relations, was 
to attempt to get the wages due to his men, for the va- 
rious ships in which they had served during the war. 
" The disgust of seamen to the navy," he said, " was 
all owing to the infernal plan of turning them over 
from ship to ship ; so that men could not be attached to 
the officers, nor the officers care the least about the 
men." Yet he himself was so beloved by his men, 
that his whole ship's company offered, if he could get 
a ship, to enter for her immediately. He was now, 
for the first time, presented at court. After going 
through this ceremony, he dined with his friend 
Davison, at Lincoln's Inn. As soon as he entered 
the chambers, he threw off what he called his iron- 
bound coat ; and, putting himself at ease in a dress- 
ing-gown, passed the remainder of the day in talking 
over all that had befallen them since they parted on 
the shore of the River St. Lawrence. 



32 LIFE OF NELSON. 



CHAPTER II. 

" I HAVE closed the war," said Nelson, in one of his 
letters, " without a fortune ; but there is not a speck 
in my character. True honour, I hope, predominates 
in my mind far above riches." He did not apply for 
a ship, because he was not wealthy enough to live on 
board in the manner which was then become custom- 
ary. Finding it, therefore, prudent to economise on 
his half-pay during the peace, he went to France, in 
company with Captain Macnamara, of the navy, and 
took lodgings at St. Omer's. The death of his 
favourite sister, Anne, who died in consequence of 
going out of the ballroom, at Bath, when heated with 
dancing, affected his father so much, that it had 
nearly occasioned him to return in a few weeks. 
Time, however, and reason and religion, overcame 
this grief in the old man ; and Nelson continued at 
St. Omer's long enough to fall in love with the daugh- 
ter of an English clergyman. This second attach- 
ment appears to have been less ardent than the first ; 
for, upon weighing the evils of a straitened income to 
a married man, he thought it better to leave France, 
assigning to his friends something in his accounts as 
the cause. This prevented him from accepting an 
invitation from the Count of Deux Ponts to visit him 
at Paris, couched in the handsomest terms of acknowl- 



LIFE OF NELSON. 33 

edgement for the treatment which he had received 
on board the " Albemarle." 

The self-constraint which Nelson exerted in subdu- 
ing this attachment, made him naturally desire to be 
at sea ; and when, upon visiting Lord Howe at the 
Admiralty, he was asked if he wished to be employed, 
he made answer that he. did. Accordingly, in March, 
he was appointed to the " Boreas," 28 guns, going to 
the Leeward Islands, as a cruiser, on the peace estab- 
lishment. Lady Hughes and her family went out 
with him to Admiral Sir Richard Hughes, who com- 
manded on that station. His ship was full of young 
midshipmen, of whom there were not less than thirty 
on board : and happy were they whose lot it was to 
be placed with such a captain. If he perceived that 
a boy was afraid at first going aloft, he would say to 
him, in a friendly manner : " Well, sir, I am going a 
race to the mast-head, and beg that I may meet you 
there." The poor little fellow instantly began to 
climb, and got up how he could, — Nelson never 
noticed in what manner ; but, when they met in the 
top, spoke cheerfully to him ; and would say, how 
much any person was to be pitied who fancied that 
getting up was either dangerous or difficult. Every 
day he went into the schoolroom, to see that they 
were pursuing their nautical studies ; and at noon he 
was always the first on deck with his quadrant. 
Whenever he paid a visit of ceremony, some of these 
youths accompanied him : and when he went to dine 
with the governor at Barbadoes, he took one of them 
in his hand, and presented him. saying, " Your 
3 



34 LIFE OF NELSON. 

Excellency must excuse me for bringing one of my 
midshipmen. I make it a rule to introduce them to 
all the good company I can, as they have few to look 
up to, besides myself, during the time they are at 
sea." 

When Nelson arrived in the West Indies he found 
himself senior captain, and, consequently, second in 
command on that station. Satisfactory as this was, 
it soon involved him in a dispute with the admiral, 
which a man less zealous for the service might have 
avoided. He found the " Latona" in English Harbour, 
Antigua, with a broad pendant hoisted ; and upon 
inquiring the reason, was presented with a written 
order from Sir R. Hughes, requiring and directing 
him to obey the orders of Resident Commissioner, 
Moutray, during the time he might have occasion to 
remain there ; the said resident commissioner being 
in consequence authorised to hoist a broad pendant 
on board any of His Majesty's ships in that port that 
he might think proper. Nelson was never at a loss 
how to act in any emergency. " I know of no su- 
perior officers," said he, "beside the Lords Commis- 
sioners of the Admiralty, and my seniors on the post 
list." Concluding therefore, that it was not consist- 
ent with the service for a resident commissioner, who 
held only a civil situation, to hoist a broad pendant, 
the moment that he had anchored he sent an order 
to the captain of the " Latona " to strike it, and return 
it to the dockyard. He then went on shore the same 
day, dined with the commissioner, to show him that 
he was actuated by no other motive than a sense of 



LIFE OF NELSON. 35 

duty, and gave him the first intelligence that his pen- 
dant had been struck. Sir Richard sent an account 
of this to the Admiralty ; but the case could admit 
of no doubt, and Captain Nelson's conduct was ap- 
proved, 

He displayed the same promptitude on another 
occasion. While the " Boreas," after the hurricane 
months were over, was riding at anchor in Nevis 
Road, a French frigate passed to leeward, close along 
shore. Nelson had obtained information that this 
ship was sent from Martinico, with two general 
officers and some engineers on board, to make a 
survey of our sugar islands. This purpose he was 
determined to prevent them from executing, and 
therefore he gave orders to follow them. The next 
day he came up with them at anchor in the roads of 
St. Eustatia, and anchored at about two cables' 
lengths on the frigate's quarter. Being afterwards 
invited by the Dutch governor to meet the French 
officers at dinner, he seized that occasion of assuring 
the French captain that, understanding it was his in- 
tention to honour the British possessions with a visit, 
he had taken the earliest opportunity in his power to 
accompany him, in His Majesty's ship the " Boreas," 
in order that such attention might be paid to the 
officers of his Most Christian Majesty, as every 
Englishman in the islands would be proud to show. 
The French, with equal courtesy, protested against 
giving him this trouble ; especially, they said, as they 
intended merely to cruise round the islands without 
landing on any. But Nelson, with the utmost polite- 



36 LIFE OF NELSON. 

ness, insisted upon paying them this compliment, 
followed them close, in spite of all their attempts to 
elude his vigilance, and never lost sight of them ; till 
finding it impossible either to deceive or escape him, 
they gave up their treacherous purpose in despair and 
beat up for Martinico. 

A business of more serious import soon engaged 
his attention. The Americans were at this time 
trading with our islands, taking advantage of the 
register of their ships, which had been issued while 
they were British subjects. Nelson knew that, by 
the Navigation Act, no foreigners, directly or in- 
directly, are permitted to carry on any trade with 
these possessions : he knew, also, that the Americans 
had made themselves foreigners with regard to Eng- 
land ; they had broken the ties of blood and language, 
and acquired the independence which they had been 
provoked to claim, unhappily for themselves, before 
they were fit for it ; and he was resolved that they 
should derive no profit from those ties. Foreigners 
they had made themselves, and as foreigners they 
were to be treated. " If once," said he, " they are 
admitted to any kind of intercourse with our islands, 
the views of the loyalists, in settling at Nova Scotia, 
are entirely done away ; and when we are again em- 
broiled in a French war, the Americans will first be- 
come the carriers of these colonies, and then have 
possession of them. Here they come, sell their car- 
goes for ready money, go to Martinico, buy molasses, 
and so round and round. The loyalist cannot do 
this, and, consequently, must sell a little dearer. The 



LIFE OF NELSON. 37 

residents here are Americans by connection and by 
interest, and are inimical to Great Britain. They are 
as great rebels as ever were in America, had they the 
power to show it." In November, when the squad- 
ron, having arrived at Barbadoes, was to separate, 
with no other orders than those for examining anchor- 
ages, and the usual inquiries concerning wood and 
water, Nelson asked his friend Collingwood, then 
captain of the " Mediator," whose opinions he knew 
upon the subject, to accompany him to the com- 
mander-in-chief, whom he then respectfully asked, 
Whether they were not to attend to the commerce of 
the country, and see that the Navigation Act was 
respected ? that appearing to him to be the intent of 
keeping men-of-war upon this station in time of 
peace. Sir Richard Hughes replied, he had no par- 
ticular orders, neither had the Admiralty sent him 
any Acts of Parliament. But Nelson made answer 
that the Navigation Act was included in the statutes 
of the Admiralty, with which every captain was fur- 
nished, and that Act was directed to admirals, cap- 
tains, etc., to see it carried into execution. Sir Rich- 
ard said he had never seen the book. Upon this 
Nelson produced the statutes, read the words of the 
Act, and apparently convinced the commander-in- 
chief that men-of-war, as he said, " were sent abroad 
for some other purpose than to be made a show of." 
Accordingly, orders were given to enforce the Navi- 
gation Act. 

General Sir Thomas Shirley was at this time gov- 
ernor of the Leeward Islands ; and when Nelson 



38 LIFE OF NELSON. 

waited on him to inform him how he intended to act, 
and upon what grounds, he replied, that " old gen- 
erals were not in the habit of taking advice from young 
gentlemen." "Sir," said the young officer, with that 
confidence in himself which never carried him too 
far, and always was equal to the occasion, " I am as 
old as the Prime Minister of England, and think my- 
self as capable of commanding one of His Majesty's 
ships as that minister is of governing the state." 
He was resolved to do his duty, whatever might be 
the opinion or conduct of others ; and when he 
arrived upon his station at St. Kitt's, he sent away 
all the Americans, not choosing to seize them before 
they had been well apprised that the Act would be 
carried into effect, lest it might seem as if a trap had 
been laid for them. The Americans, though they 
prudently decamped from St. Kitt's, were embold- 
ened by the support they met with, and resolved to 
resist his orders, alleging that king's ships had no legal 
power to seize them without having deputations from 
the customers. The planters were to a man against 
him ; the governors and the presidents of the different 
islands, with only a single exception, gave him no 
support ; and the admiral, afraid to act on either side, 
yet wishing to oblige the planters, sent him a note, 
advising him to be guided by the wishes of the Presi- 
dent of the Council. There was no danger in dis- 
regarding this, as it came unofficially, and in the form 
of advice. But scarcely a month after he had shown 
Sir Richard Hughes the law, and, as he supposed, 
satisfied him concerning it, he received an order from 



LIFE OF NELSON. 39 

him, stating that he had now obtained good advice 
upon the point, and the Americans were not to be 
hindered from coming, and having free egress and 
regress, if the governor chose to permit them. An 
order to the same purport had been sent round to the 
different governors and presidents ; and General 
Shirley and others informed him, in an authoritative 
manner, that they chose to admit American ships, as 
the commander-in-chief had left the decision to them. 
These persons, in his own words, he soon " trimmed 
up, and silenced ; " but it was a more delicate busi- 
ness to deal with the admiral. " I must either," said 
he, " disobey my orders or disobey Acts of Parlia- 
ment. I determined upon the former, trusting to the 
uprightness of my intentions, and believing that my 
country would not let me be ruined for protecting 
her commerce." With this determination he wrote 
to Sir Richard, appealed again to the plain, literal, 
unequivocal sense of the Navigation Act ; and in 
respectful language told him he felt it his duty to 
decline obeying these orders till he had an opportunity 
of seeing and conversing with him. Sir Richard's 
first feeling was that of anger, and he was about to 
supersede Nelson ; but having mentioned the affair 
to his captain, that officer told him he believed all the 
squadron thought the orders illegal, and therefore 
did not know how far they were bound to obey them. 
It was impossible, therefore, to bring Nelson to a 
court-martial composed of men who agreed with him 
in opinion upon the point in dispute ; and, luckily, 
though the admiral wanted vigour of mind to decide 



40 LIFE OF NELSON. 

upon what was right, he was not obstinate in wrong, 
and had even generosity enough in his nature to 
thank Nelson afterwards for having shown him his 
error. 

Collingwood, in the " Mediator," and his brother, 
Winifred Collingwood, in the " Rattler," actively co- 
operated with Nelson, The custom-houses were 
informed, that after a certain day all foreign vessels 
found in the ports would be seized , and many were 
in consequence seized, and condemned in the Admi- 
ralty Court. When the " Boreas " arrived at Nevis > 
she found four American vessels deeply laden, and 
with what are called the island colours flying — white, 
with a red cross. They were ordered to hoist their 
proper flag, and depart within eight-and-forty hours ; 
but they refused to obey, denying that they were 
Americans. Some of their crews were then examined 
in Nelson's cabin, where the judge of the Admiralty 
happened to be present. The case was plain ; they 
confessed that they were Americans, and that the 
ships, hull and cargo, were wholly American property 
— upon which he seized them. This raised a storm : 
the planters, the custom-house, and the governor, 
were all against him. Subscriptions were opened, 
and presently rilled, for the purpose of carrying on 
the cause in behalf of the American captains : and 
the admiral, whose flag was at that time in the roads, 
stood neutral. But the Americans and their abettors 
were not content with defensive law. The marines 
whom he had sent to secure the ships had prevented 
some of the masters from going ashore ; and those 



LIFE OF NELSON. 41 

persons, by whose depositions it appeared that the 
vessels and cargoes were American property, declared 
that they had given their testimony under bodily 
fear, for that a man with a drawn sword in his hand 
had stood over them the whole time. A rascally 
lawyer, whom the party employed, suggested this 
story ; and as the sentry at the cabin-door was a 
man with a drawn sword, the Americans made no 
scruple of swearing to this ridiculous falsehood, and 
commencing prosecutions against him accordingly. 
They laid their damages at the enormous amount of 
,£40,000 ; and Nelson was obliged to keep close on 
board his own ship, lest he should be arrested for a 
sum for which it would have been impossible to find 
bail. The marshal frequently came on board to arrest 
him, but was always prevented by the address of 
the first lieutenant, Mr. Wallis. Had he been taken, 
such was the temper of the people, that it was cer- 
tain he would have been cast for the whole sum. 
One of his officers, one clay, in speaking of the restraint 
which he was thus compelled to suffer, happened to 
use the word pity ! " Pity ! " exclaimed Nelson : 
" Pity ! did you say? I shall live, sir, to be envied ! 
and to that point I shall always direct my course." 
Eight weeks he remained under this state of duresse. 
During that time the trial respecting these detained 
ships came on in the Court of Admiralty. He went 
on shore under a protection for the day from the 
judge ; but, notwithstanding this, the marshal was 
called upon to take that opportunity of arresting him, 
and the merchants promised to indemnify him for so 



42 LIFE OF NELSON. 

doing. The judge, however, did his duty, and 
threatened to send the marshal to prison if he at- 
tempted to violate the protection of the court. Mr. 
Herbert, the president of Nevis, behaved with singu- 
lar generosity upon this occasion. Though no man 
was a greater sufferer by the measures which Nelson 
had pursued, he offered in court to become his bail for 
£10,000, if he chose to suffer the arrest. The lawyer 
whom he had chosen proved to be an able as well as 
an honest man ; and, notwithstanding the opinions 
and pleadings of most of the counsel of the different 
islands, who maintained that ships of war were not 
justified in seizing American vessels without a dep- 
utation from the customs, the law was so explicit, 
the case so clear, and Nelson pleaded his own cause 
so well, that the four ships were condemned. Dur- 
ing the progress of this business he sent a memorial 
home to the king : in consequence of which, orders 
were issued that he should be defended at the expense 
of the Crown. And upon the representations which 
he made at the same time to the Secretary of State, 
and the suggestions with which he accompanied it, the 
Register Act was framed. The sanction of Govern- 
ment, and the approbation of his conduct which it 
implied, were highly gratifying to him : but he was 
offended, and not without just cause, that the Treas- 
ury should have transmitted thanks to the com- 
mander-in-chief for his activity and zeal in protecting 
the commerce of Great Britain. " Had they known 
all," said he, " I do not think they would have bestowed 
thanks in that quarter, and neglected me. I feel much 






LIFE OF NELSON. 43 

hurt that, after the loss of health and risk of fortune, 
another should be thanked for what I did against his 
orders. I either deserved to be sent out of the serv- 
ice, or at least to have had some little notice taken 
of what I had done. They have thought it worthy 
of notice, and yet have neglected me. If this is the 
reward for a faithful discharge of my duty, I shall be 
careful, and never stand forward again. But I have 
done my duty, and have nothing to accuse myself 
of." 

The anxiety which he had suffered from the harass- 
ing uncertainties of law, is apparent from these ex- 
pressions. He had, however, something to console 
him, for he was at this time wooing the niece of his 
friend the president, then in her eighteenth year, the 
widow of Dr. Nisbet, a physician. She had one child, 
a son, by name Josiah, who was three years old. 
One day Mr. Herbert, who had hastened, half-dressed, 
to receive Nelson, exclaimed, on returning to his 
dressing-room, " Good God ! if I did not find that 
great little man, of whom everybody is so afraid, 
playing in the next room, under the dining-table, 
with Mrs. Nisbet's child ! " A few days afterwards, 
Mrs. Nisbet herself was first introduced to him, 
and thanked him for the partiality which he had 
shown to her little boy. Her manners were mild 
and winning ; and the captain, whose heart was 
easily susceptible of attachment, found no such im- 
perious necessity for subduing his inclinations as had 
twice before withheld him from marrying. They 
were married on March 11. 1787; Prince William 



44 LIFE OF NELSON. 

Henry, who had come out to the West Indies the 
preceding winter, being present, by his own desire, 
to give away the bride. Mr. Herbert, her uncle, was 
at this time so much displeased with his only daughter, 
that he had resolved to disinherit her, and leave his 
whole fortune, which wtis very great, to his niece. 
But Nelson, whose nature was too noble to let him 
profit by an act of injustice, interfered, and succeeded 
in reconciling the president to his child. 

" Yesterday," said one of his naval friends, the day 
after the wedding, " the navy lost one of its greatest 
ornaments by Nelson's marriage. It is a national 
loss that such an officer should marry : had it not 
been for this r Nelson would have become the greatest 
man in the service." The man was rightly estimat- 
ed ; but he who delivered this opinion did not under- 
stand the effect of domestic love and duty upon a mind 
of the true heroic stamp. " We are often separate," 
said Nelson, in a letter to Mrs. Nisbet, a few months 
before their marriage ; " but our affections are not 
by any means on that account diminished. Our 
country has the first demand for our services ; and 
private convenience or happiness must ever give way 
to the public good. Duty is the great business of a 
sea officer : all private considerations must give way 
to it, however painful." " Have you not often 
heard," says he, in another letter, " that salt water 
and absence always wash away love ? New I am 
such a heretic as not to believe that faith ; for, be- 
hold, every morning I have had six pails of salt water 
poured upon my head, and instead of finding what 



LIFE OF NELSON. 45 

seamen say to be true, it goes on so contrary to the 
prescription, that you must, perhaps, see me before 
the fixed time." More frequently his correspondence 
breathed a deeper strain. " To write letters to you," 
says he, " is the next greatest pleasure I feel to re- 
ceiving them from you. What I experience when I 
read such as I am sure are the pure sentiments of 
your heart, my poor pen cannot express ; nor, indeed, 
would I give much for any pen or head which could 
express feelings of that kind. Absent from you, I 
feel no pleasure : it is you who are everything to me. 
Without you I care not for this world ; for I have 
found, lately, nothing in it but vexation and trouble. 
These are my present sentiments. God Almighty 
grant they may never change ! Nor do I think they 
will. Indeed there is, as far as human knowledge 
can judge, a moral certainty that they cannot : for it 
must be real affection that brings us together ; not 
interest or compulsion." Such were the feelings, and 
such the sense of duty, with which Nelson became a 
husband. 

During his stay upon this station he had ample 
opportunity of observing the scandalous practices of 
the contractors, prize-agents, and other persons in 
the West Indies connected with the naval service. 
When he was first left with the command, and bills 
were brought him to sign for money which was 
owing for goods purchased for the navy, he required 
the original voucher, that he might examine whether 
those goods had been really purchased at the market 
price ; but to produce vouchers would not have been 



46 LIFE OF NELSON. 

convenient, and therefore was not the custom. Up- 
on this Nelson wrote to Sir Charles Middleton, then 
Comptroller of the Navy, representing the abuses 
which were likely to be practised in this manner. 
The answer which he received seemed to imply that 
the old forms were thought sufficient : and thus hav- 
ing no alternative, he was compelled, with his eyes 
open, to submit to a practice originating in fraudulent 
intentions. Soon afterwards two Antigua merchants 
informed him that they were privy to great frauds 
which had been committed upon Government in vari- 
ous departments — at Antigua, to the amount of 
nearly ^500,000; at Lucie, ^300,000; at Barbadoes, 
^250,000; at Jamaica, upwards of a million. The 
informers were both shrewd, sensible men of busi- 
ness : they did not affect to be actuated by a sense 
of justice, but required a percentage upon so much 
as Government should actually recover through their 
means. Nelson examined the books and papers 
which they produced, and was convinced that Gov- 
ernment had been most infamously plundered. 
Vouchers, he found, in that country were no check 
whatever: the principle was, that" a thing was 
always worth what it would bring:" and the mer- 
chants were in the habit of signing vouchers for each 
other, without even the appearance of looking at the 
articles. These accounts he sent home to the differ- 
ent departments which had been defrauded ; but 
the peculators were too powerful, and they succeed- 
ed not merely in impeding inquiry, but even in rais- 
ing prejudices against Nelson at the Board of Ad- 



LIFE OF NELSON. 47 

miralty, which it was many years before he could 
subdue. 

Owing, probably, to these prejudices, and the in- 
fluence of the peculators, he was treated, on his re- 
turn to England, in a manner which had nearly driven 
him from the service. During the three years that 
the "Boreas " had remained upon a station which is 
usually so fatal, not a single officer or man of her 
whole complement had died. This almost unex- 
ampled instance of good health, though mostly, no 
doubt, imputable to a healthy season, must, in some 
measure, also be ascribed to the wise conduct of the 
captain. He never suffered the ships to remain more 
than three or four at a time at any of the islands ; and 
when the hurricane months confined him to English 
Harbor, he encouraged all kinds of useful amuse- 
ments : music, dancing, and cudgelling among the 
men ; theatricals among the officers, — anything which 
could employ their attention and keep their spirits 
cheerful. The " Boreas " arrived in England in June. 
Nelson, who had many times been supposed to be 
consumptive when in the West Indies, and perhaps 
was saved from consumption by that climate, was 
still in a precarious state of health ; and the raw wet 
weather of one of our ungenial summers brought on 
cold and sore throat and fever : yet his vessel was 
kept at the Nore from the end of June till the end of 
November, serving as a sloop and receiving ship. 
This unworthy treatment, which more probably pro- 
ceeded from intention than from neglect, excited in 
Nelson the strongest indignation. During the whole 



4 8 LIFE OF NELSON. 

five months he seldom or never quitted the ship, but 
carried on the duty with strict and sullen attention. 
On the morning when orders were received to pre- 
pare the " Boreas " for being paid off, he expressed 
his joy to the senior officer in the " Medway," saying, 
" It will release me forever from an ungrateful service, 
for it is my firm and unalterable determination never 
again to set my foot on board a king's ship. Im- 
mediately after my arrival in town I shall wait on the 
First Lord of the Admiralty, and resign my commis- 
sion." The officer to whom he thus communicated 
his intentions behaved in the wisest and most friendly 
manner ; for, finding it in vain to dissuade him in his 
present state of feeling, he secretly interfered with 
the first lord to save him from a step so injurious to 
himself, little foreseeing how deeply the welfare and 
honour of England were at that moment at stake. 
This interference produced a letter from Lord Howe, 
the day before the ship was paid off, intimating a 
wish to see Captain Nelson as soon as he arrived in 
town ; when, being pleased with his conversation, and 
perfectly convinced, by what was then explained to 
him, of the propriety of his conduct, he desired that 
he might present him to the king on the first levee day : 
and the gracious manner, in which Nelson was then 
received, effectually removed his resentment. 

Prejudices had been, in like manner, excited 
against his friend, Prince William Henry. " Nothing 
is wanting, sir," said Nelson in one of his letters, " to 
make you the darling of the English nation, but 
truth. Sorry I am to say, much to the contrary has 



LIFE OF NELSON. 49 

been dispersed." This was not flattery ; for Nelson 
was no flatterer. The letter in which this passage 
occurs shows in how wise and noble a manner he dealt 
with the prince. One of his royal highness's officers 
had applied for a court-martial upon a point in which 
he was unquestionably wrong. His royal highness, 
however, while he supported his own character and 
authority, prevented the trial, which must have been 
injurious to a brave and deserving man. " Now that 
you are parted," said Nelson, " pardon me, my prince, 
when I presume to recommend that he may stand in 
your royal favour as if he had never sailed with you, 
and that at some future day you will serve him. 
There only wants this to place your conduct in the 
highest point of view. None of us are without fail- 
ings ; his, was being rather too hasty : but that, put in 
competition with his being a good officer, will not, I 
am bold to say, be taken in the scale against him. 
More able friends than myself your royal highness 
may easily find, and of more consequence in the 
state ; but one more attached and affectionate is not 
so easily met with. Princes seldom, very seldom, find 
a disinterested person to communicate their thoughts 
to : I do not pretend to be that person : but of this 
be assured, by a man who, I trust, never did a dis- 
honourable act, that I am interested only that your 
royal highness should be the greatest and best man 
this country ever produced." 

Encouraged by the conduct of Lord Howe, and by 
his reception at court, Nelson renewed his attack 
upon the peculators with fresh spirit. He had inter- 
4 



So LIFE OF NELSON. 

views with Mr. Rose, Mr. Pitt, and Sir Charles Mid- 
dleton ; to all of whom he satisfactorily proved his 
charges. In consequence, it is said, these very ex- 
tensive public frauds were at length put in a proper 
train to be provided against in future : his represen- 
tations were attended to ; and every step which he 
recommended was adopted : the investigation was 
put into a proper course, which ended in the detec- 
tion and punishment of some of the culprits : an im- 
mense saving was made to Government, and thus its 
attention was directed to similar peculation in other 
parts of the Colonies. But it is said, also, that no 
mark of commendation seems to have been bestowed 
upon Nelson for his exertion. And it is justly re- 
marked,* that the spirit of the navy cannot be pre- 
served so effectually by the liberal honours bestowed 
on officers when they are worn out in the service, as 
by an attention to those who, like Nelson at this part 
of his life, have only their integrity and zeal to bring 
them into notice. A junior officer, who had been 
left with the command at Jamaica, received an ad- 
ditional allowance, for which Nelson had applied in 
vain. Double pay was allowed to every artificer 
and seaman employed in the naval yard. Nelson 
had superintended the whole business of that yard 
with the most rigid exactness, and he complained 
that he was neglected. " It was most true," he said, 
" that the trouble which he took to detect the fraudu- 
lent practices then carried on, was no more than his 
duty ; but he little thought that the expenses attend- 

* Clarke and M'Arthur, vol. i. p. 107. 



LIFE OF NELSON. 51 

ing his frequent journeys to St. John's, upon that 
duty (a distance of twelve miles), would have fallen 
upon his pay as captain of the ' Boreas.' " Neverthe- 
less, the sense of what he thought this unworthy 
usage did not diminish his zeal. " I," said he, " must 
still buffet the waves in search of — What ? Alas ! 
that they called honour is now thought of no more. 
My fortune, God knows, has grown worse for the 
service ; so much for serving my country. But the 
devil, ever willing to tempt the virtuous, has made 
me offer, if any ships should be sent to destroy his 
majesty of Morocco's ports, to be there ; and I have 
some reason to think that, should any more come of 
it, my humble services will be accepted. I have in- 
variably laid down, and followed close, a plan of 
what ought to be uppermost in the breast of an 
officer, — that it is much better to serve an ungrateful 
country, than to give up his own fame. Posterity will 
do him justice. A uniform course of honour and integ- 
rity seldom fails of bringing a man to the goal of 
fame at last." 

The design against the Barbary pirates, like all 
other designs against them, was laid aside ; and Nel- 
son took his wife to his father's parsonage, meaning 
only to pay him a visit before they went to France — 
a project which he had formed for the sake of acquir- 
ing a competent knowledge of the French language. 
But, his father could not bear to lose him thus un- 
necessarily. Mr. Nelson had long been an invalid, 
suffering under paralytic and asthmatic affections, 
which, for several hours after he rose in the morning, 



52 LIFE OF NELSON. 

scarcely permitted him to speak. He had been given 
over by his physicians for this complaint nearly forty 
years before his death; and was, for many of his last 
years, obliged to spend all his winters at Bath. The 
sight of his son, he declared, had given him new life. 
" But Horace," said he, " it would have been better 
that I had not been thus cheered, if I am so soon to 
be bereaved of you again. Let me, my good son, 
see you whilst I can. My age and infirmities increase 
and I shall not last long." To such an appeal there 
could be no reply. Nelson took up his abode at the 
parsonage, and amused himself with the sports and 
the occupations of the country. Sometimes he busied 
himself with farming the glebe ; sometimes spent 
the greater part of the day in the garden, where he 
would dig as if for the mere pleasure of wearying 
himself. Sometimes he went bird-nesting like a boy ; 
and in these expeditions Mrs. Nelson always, by his 
express desire, accompanied him. Coursing was his 
favourite amusement. Shooting, as he practised it, 
was far too dangerous for his companions ; for he 
carried his gun upon the full cock, as if he were going 
to board an enemy ; and the moment a bird rose, he 
let fly, without ever putting the fowling-piece to his 
shoulder. It is not, therefore, extraordinary, that his 
having once shot a partridge should be remembered by 
his family among the remarkable events of his life. 

But his time did not pass away thus without some 
vexatious cares to ruffle it. The affair of the Ameri- 
can ships was not yet over, and he was again pestered 
with threats of prosecution. " I have written them 



LIFE OF NELSON. 53 

word," said he, " that I will have nothing to do with 
them, and they must act as they think proper. Gov- 
ernment, I suppose, will do what is right, and not 
leave me in the lurch. We have heard enough lately 
of the consequence of the Navigation Act to this 
country. They may take my person : but if sixpence 
would save me from a prosecution, I would not give 
it." It was his great ambition at this time to possess 
a pony ; and having resolved to purchase one, he 
went to a fair for that purpose. During his absence 
two men abruptly entered the parsonage, and in- 
quired for him : they then asked for Mrs. Nelson ; 
and after they had made her repeatedly declare that 
she was really and truly the captain's wife, presented 
her with a writ, or notification on the part of the 
American captains, who now laid their damages at 
^20,000, and they charged her to give it to her hus- 
band on his return. Nelson having bought his pony, 
came home with it in high spirits. He called out his 
wife to admire the purchase, and listen to all its ex- 
cellencies : nor was it till his glee had in some meas- 
ure subsided, that the paper could be presented to 
him. His indignation was excessive : and in the ap- 
prehension triat he should be exposed to the anxieties 
of the suit, and the ruinous consequences which might 
ensue, he exclaimed, " This affront I did not deserve ! 
But I'll be trifled with no longer. I will write imme- 
diately to the Treasury ; and if Government will not 
support me, I am resolved to leave the country." Ac- 
cordingly, he informed the Treasury that if a satisfac- 
tory answer were not sent him by return of post, he 



54 LIFE OF NELSON. 



should take refuge in France. To this he expected he 
should be driven, and for this he arranged everything 
with his characteristic rapidity of decision. It was 
settled that he should depart immediately, and Mrs. 
Nelson follow under the care of his elder brother, 
Maurice, ten days after him. But the answer which 
he received from Government quieted his fears : it 
stated that Captain Nelson was a very good officer, 
and needed to be under no apprehension, for he would 
assuredly be supported. 

Here his disquietude upon this subject seems to 
have ended. Still he was not at ease ; he wanted 
employment, and was mortified that his applications 
for it produced no effect. " Not being a man of for- 
tune," he said, " was a crime which he was unable to 
get over, and therefore none of the great cared about 
him." Repeatedly he requested the Admiralty that 
they would not leave him to rust in indolence. Dur- 
ing the armament which was made upon occasion of 
the dispute concerning Nootka Sound, he renewed 
his application : and his steady friend, Prince Wil- 
liam, who had then been created Duke of Clarence, 
recommended him to Lord Chatham. The failure of 
this recommendation wounded him so keenly that he 
again thought of retiring from the service in disgust : 
a resolution from which nothing but the urgent re- 
monstrances of Lord Hood induced him to desist. 
Hearing that the " Raisonnable," in which he had 
commenced his career, was to be commissioned, he 
asked for her. This also was in vain : and a coolness 
ensued, on his part, toward Lord Hood, because that 



. 



LIFE OF NELSON. 55 

excellent officer did not use his influence with Lord 
Chatham upon this occasion. Lord Hood, however, 
had certainly sufficient reasons for not interfering ; for 
he ever continued his steady friend, In the winter of 
1792, when we were on the eve of the Anti-Jacobin 
war, Nelson once more offered his services, earnestly 
requested a ship, and added, that if their lordships 
should be pleased to appoint him to a cockle-boat, 
he should feel satisfied. He was answered in the 
usual official form : " Sir, I have received your letter 
of the 5th instant, expressing your readiness to serve, 
and have read the same to my Lords Commissioners 
of the Admiralty." On the 12th of December he re- 
ceived this dry acknowledgment. The fresh morti- 
fication did not, however, affect him long; for, by the 
joint interest of the Duke and Lord Hood, he was 
appointed, on the 30th of January following, to the 
" Agamemnon," of 64 guns. 



56 LIFE OF NELSON, 



CHAPTER III. 



" There are three things, young gentleman," said 
Nelson to one of his midshipmen, " which you are 
constantly to bear in mind. First, you must always 
implicitly obey orders, without attempting to form any 
opinion of your own respecting their propriety. Sec- 
ondly, you must consider every man your enemy who 
speaks ill of your king ; and, thirdly, you must hate a 
Frenchman as you do the devil." With these feel- 
ings he engaged in the Anti- Jacobin war. Josiah, 
his son-in-law, went with him as a midshipman. 

The " Agamemnon " was ordered to the Mediter- 
ranean, under Lord Hood. The fleet arrived in those 
seas at a time when the South of France would wil- 
lingly have formed itself into a separate republic, 
under the protection of England. But good prin- 
ciples had been at that time perilously abused by 
ignorant and profligate men ; and, in its fear and 
hatred of democracy, the English Government 
leagued itself with despotism, — a miserable error, of 
which the consequences will long be to be deplored : 
for had not England, in an unhappy hour, interfered, 
the rotten governments of the Continent would then 
have fallen ; and the Continental nations, acquiring a 
revolutionary impulse and strength, at the same time 
as France, would now have been the rivals of France, 
instead of her prey. Lord Hood could not take ad- 



LIFE OF NELSON. 57 

vantage of the fair occasion which presented itself ; 
and which, if it had been seized with vigour, might 
have ended in dividing France ; but he negotiated 
with the people of Toulon, to take possession pro- 
visionally of their port and city, which, fatally for 
themselves, was accordingly done. Before the Brit- 
ish fleet entered, Nelson was sent with despatches to 
Sir William Hamilton, our envoy to the court of 
Naples. Sir William, after his first interview with him, 
told Lady Hamilton he was about to introduce a 
little man to her, who could not boast of being very 
handsome, but such a man as, he believed, would one 
day astonish the world. " I have never before," he 
continued, " entertained an officer at my house ; but 
I am determined to bring him here. Let him be put 
in the room prepared for Prince Augustus." Thus 
that acquaintance began which ended in the destruc- 
tion of Nelson's domestic happiness. It seemed to 
threaten no such consequences at its commencement. 
He spoke of Lady Hamilton, in a letter to his wife, 
as a young woman of amiable manners, who did 
honour to the station to which she had been raised : 
and he remarked that she had been exceedingly kind 
to Josiah. The activity with which the envoy exerted 
himself in procuring troops from Naples to assist in 
garrisoning Toulon, so delighted him, that he is said 
to have exclaimed : " Sir William, you area man after 
my own heart ! — you do business in my own way : " 
and then to have added, " I am now only a captain ; 
but I will, if I live, be at the top of the tree." Here, 
also, that acquaintance with the Neapolitan court 



58 LIFE OF NELSON. 

commenced, which led to the only blot upon Nelson's 
public character. The king, who was sincere at that 
time in his enmity to the French, called the English 
the saviours of Italy, and of his dominions in particular. 
He paid the most flattering attentions to Nelson, 
made him dine with him, and seated him at his right 
hand. 

Having accomplished this mission, Nelson received 
orders to join Commodore Linzee at Tunis. On the 
way, five sail of the enemy were discovered off the 
coast of Sardinia, and he chased them. They proved 
to be three 44 gun frigates, with a corvette of 24, 
and a brig of 12. The "Agamemnon " had only 345 
men at quarters, having landed part of her crew at 
Toulon, and others being absent in prizes. He came 
near enough one of the frigates to engage her, but 
at great disadvantage, the Frenchman manoeuvring 
well, and sailing greatly better. A running fight of 
three hours ensued ; during which the other ships, 
which were at some distance, made all speed to come 
up. By this time the enemy was almost silenced, 
when a favourable change of wind enabled her to get 
out of reach of the " Agamemnon's " guns ; and that 
ship had received so much damage in the rigging, 
that she could not follow her. Nelson expecting that 
this was but the forerunner of a far more serious 
engagement, called his officers together, and asked 
them if the ship vvas fit to go into action against 
such a superior force, without some small refit and 
refreshment for the men. Their answer was, that 
she certainly was not. He then gave these orders : 



LIFE OF NELSON. 59 

" Veer the ship, and lay her head to the westward : 
let some of the best men be employed refitting the 
rigging, and the carpenter getting crows and cap- 
sternbars to prevent our wounded spars from coming 
down ; and get the wine up for the people, with some 
bread, for it may be half an hour good before we are 
again in action.' But when the French came up, 
their comrade made signals of distress, and they all 
hoisted out their boats to go to her assistance, leav- 
ing the " Agamemnon " unmolested. 

Nelson found Commodore Linzee at Tunis, where 
he had been sent to expostulate with the dey upon 
the impolicy of his supporting the revolutionary 
Government of France. Nelson represented to him 
the atrocity of that Government. Such arguments 
were of little avail in Barbary : and when the dey was 
told that the French had put their sovereign to death, 
he dryly replied, that " Nothing could be more 
heinous; and yet, if historians told the truth, the 
English had once done the same." This answer had 
doubtless been suggested by the French about him : 
they had completely gained the ascendency, and all 
negotiation on our part proved fruitless. Shortly 
afterward, Nelson was detached with a small squadron 
to co-operate with General Paoli and the Anti- 
Gallican party in Corsica. 

Some thirty years before this time, the heroic pa- 
triotism of the Corsicans, and of their leader Paoli, had 
been the admiration of England. The history of 
these brave people is but a melancholy tale. The 
island which they inhabit has been abundantly 



60 LIFE OF NELSON. 

blessed by nature : it has many excellent harbours ; 
and though the malaria, or pestilential atmosphere, 
which is so deadly in many parts of Italy, and of the 
Italian islands, prevails on the eastern coast, the 
greater part of the country is mountainous and 
healthy. It is about 150 miles long, and from 40 to 
50 broad ; in circumference, some 320, — a country 
large enough, and sufficiently distant from the nearest 
shores, to have subsisted as an independent state, if 
the welfare and happiness of the human race, had 
ever been considered as the end and aim of policy. 
The Moors, the Pisans, the kings of Aragon. and the 
Genoese, successively attempted, and each for a time 
effected its conquest. The yoke of the Genoese con- 
tinued longest, and was the heaviest. These petty 
tyrants ruled with an iron rod ; and when at any 
time a patriot rose to resist their oppressions, if they 
failed to subdue him by force, they resorted to assas- 
sination. At the commencement of the last century 
they quelled one revolt by the aid of German auxil- 
iaries, whom the Emperor Charles VI. sent against a 
people who had never offended him, and who were 
fighting for whatever is most dear to man. In 1734 
the war was renewed ; and Theodore, a Westphalian 
baron, then appeared upon the stage. In that age 
men were not accustomed to see adventurers play for 
kingdoms, and Theodore became the common talk of 
Europe. He had served in the French armies ; and 
having afterwards been noticed both by Ripperda 
and Alberoni, their example, perhaps, inflamed a 
spirit as ambitious and as unprincipled as their own. 



LIFE OF NELSON. 61 

He employed the whole of his means in raising money 
and procuring arms ; then wrote to the leaders of the 
Corsican patriots, to offer them considerable assist- 
ance, if they would erect Corsica into an independent 
kingdom, and elect him king. When he landed 
among them, they were struck with his stately person, 
his dignified manners, and imposing talents ; they 
believed the magnificent promises of foreign assistance 
which he held out, and elected him king accordingly. 
Had his means been as he represented them, they 
could not have acted more wisely, than in thus at 
once fixing the government of their country, and put- 
ting an end to those rivalries among the leading 
families, which had so often proved pernicious to the 
public weal. He struck money, conferred titles, 
blocked up the fortified towns which were held by 
the Genoese, and amused the people with promises of 
assistance for about eight months ; then, perceiving 
that they cooled in their affections towards him, in 
proportion as their expectations were disappointed, 
he left the island, under the plea of expediting him- 
self the succours which he had so long awaited. 
Such was his address, that he prevailed upon several 
rich merchants in Holland, particularly the Jews, to 
trust him with cannon and warlike stores to a great 
amount. They shipped these under the charge of a 
supercargo. Theodore returned with this supercargo 
to Corsica, and put him to death on his arrival, as 
the shortest way of settling the account. The re- 
mainder of his life was a series oi deserved afflictions. 
He threw in the stores which he had thus fraudu- 



62 LIFE OF NELSON. 

lently obtained ; but he did not dare to land, for 
Genoa had now called in the French to their assist- 
ance, and a price had been set upon his head. His 
dreams of royalty were now at an end : he took ref- 
uge in London, contracted debts, and was thrown 
into the King's Bench. After lingering there many 
years, he was released under an act of insolvency ; 
in consequence of which, he made over the kingdom 
of Corsica, for the use of his creditors, and died 
shortly after his deliverance. 

The French, who have never acted a generous part 
in the history of the world, readily entered into the 
views of the Genoese, which accorded with their own 
policy : for such was their ascendency at Genoa, that 
in subduing Corsica for these allies, they were in fact 
subduing it for themselves. They entered into the 
contest, therefore, with their usual vigour and their 
usual cruelty. It was in vain that the Corsicans 
addressed a most affecting memorial to the court of 
Versailles ; that remorseless Government persisted in 
its flagitious project. They poured in troops ; dressed 
a part of them like the people of the country, by 
which means they deceived and destroyed many of 
the patriots ; cut down the standing corn, the vines 
and the olives; set fire to the villages, and hung all 
the most able and active men who fell into their 
hands. A war of this kind may be carried on with 
success against a country so small and so thinly 
peopled as Corsica. Having reduced the island to 
perfect servitude, which they called peace, the French 
withdrew their forces. As soon as they were gone, 



LIFE OF NELSON. 63 

men, women, and boys rose again against their op- 
pressors. The circumstances of the times were now 
favourable to them ; and some British ships, acting as 
allies of Sardinia, bombarded Bastia and San Fiorenzo, 
and delivered them into the hands of the patriots. 
This service was long remembered with gratitude : 
the impression made upon our own countrymen was 
less favourable. They had witnessed the heart-burn- 
ing of rival chiefs, and the dissensions among the 
patriots ; and perceiving the state of barbarism to 
which continual oppression, and habits of lawless 
turbulence, had reduced the nation, did not recollect 
that the vices of the people were owing to their un- 
happy circumstances ; but that the virtues which they 
displayed arose from their own nature. This feeling, 
perhaps, influenced the British Court, when, in 1746, 
Corsica offered to put herself under the protection of 
Great Britain : an answer was returned, expressing 
satisfaction at such a communication, hoping that the 
Corsicans would preserve the same sentiments, but 
signifying also that the present was not the time for 
such a measure. 

These brave islanders then formed a government 
for themselves, under two leaders, Gaffori and 
Matra, who had the title of protectors. The latter is 
represented as a partisan of Genoa, favouring the 
views of the oppressors of his country by the most 
treasonable means. Gaffori was a hero worthy of old 
times. His eloquence was long remembered with 
admiration. A band of assassins was once advanc- 
ing against him : he heard of their approach, went 



64 LIFE OF NELSON. 



out to meet them ; and, with a serene dignity which 
overawed them, requested them to hear him : then 
spake to them so forcibly of the distresses of their 
country, her intolerable wrongs, and the hopes and 
views of their brethren in arms, that the very men 
who had been hired to murder him, fell at his feet, 
implored his forgiveness, and joined his banner. 
While he was besieging the Genoese in Corte, a party 
of the garrison perceiving the nurse with his eldest 
son, then an infant in arms, straying at a little dis- 
tance from the camp, suddenly sallied out and seized 
them. The use they made of their persons was in 
conformity to their usual execrable conduct. When 
Gaffori advanced to batter the walls, they held up the 
child directly over that part of the wall at which the 
guns were pointed. The Corsicans stopped: but 
Gaffori stood at their head and ordered them to con- 
tinue the fire. Providentially the child escaped, and 
lived to relate, with becoming feeling, a fact so honour- 
able to his father. That father conducted the affairs 
of the island till 1753, when he was assassinated by 
some wretches, set on, it is believed, by Genoa ; but 
certainly pensioned by that abominable government 
after the deed. He left the country in such a state, 
that it was enabled to continue the war two years 
after his death without a leader : then they found one 
worthy of their cause in Pasquale de Paoli. 

Paoli's father was one of the patriots who effected 
their escape from Corsica when the French reduced 
it to obedience. He retired to Naples, and brought up 
this his youngest son in the Neapolitan service. The 



. 



LIFE OF NELSON. 65 

Corsicans heard of young- Paoli's abilities, and solicited 
him to come over to his native country and take the 
command. He did not hesitate long : his father, 
who was too far advanced in years to take an active 
part himself, encouraged him to go ; and when they 
separated, the old man fell on his neck and kissed 
him, and gave him his blessing. " My son," said he, 
" perhaps I may never see you more ; but in my mind 
I shall ever be present with you. Your design is 
great and noble ; and I doubt not but God will bless 
you in it. I shall devote to your cause the little 
remainder of my life, in offering up my prayers for 
your success." When Paoli assumed the command, 
he found all things in confusion : he formed a demo- 
cratical government, of which he was chosen chief ; 
restored the authority of the laws ; established a 
university ; and took such measures, both for repress- 
ing abuses and moulding the rising generation, that, 
if France had not interfered, upon its wicked and 
detestable principle of usurpation, Corsica might, at 
this day, have been as free and flourishing and happy 
a commonwealth as any of the Grecian states in the 
days of their prosperity. The Genoese were at this 
time driven out of their fortified towns, and must in a 
short time have been expelled. France was indebted 
some millions of livres to Genoa : it was not conven- 
ient to pay this money ; so the French minister pro- 
posed to the Genoese, that she should discharge the 
debt by sending six battalions to serve in Corsica for 
four years. The indignation which this conduct ex- 
cited in all generous hearts was forcibly expressed by 
5 



66 LIFE OF NELSON. 

Rousseau, who, with all his errors, was never deficient 
in feeling for the wrongs of humanity. " You French- 
men," said he, writing to one of that people, " are a 
thoroughly servile nation, thoroughly sold to tyranny, 
thoroughly cruel, and relentless in persecuting the 
unhappy. If they knew of a free man at the other 
end of the world, I believe they would go thither 
for the mere pleasure of extirpating him." 

The immediate object of the French happened to 
be purely mercenary : they wanted to clear off their 
debt to Genoa ; and as the presence of their troops 
in the island effected this, they aimed at doing the 
people no further mischief. Would that the conduct 
of England had been at this time free from reproach ! 
but a proclamation was issued by the English Gov- 
ernment, after the peace of Paris, prohibiting any 
intercourse with the rebels of Corsica. Paoli said, 
he did not expect that from Great Britain. This 
great man was deservedly proud of his country : — " I 
defy Rome, Sparta, or Thebes," he used to say, " to 
show me thirty years of such patriotism as Corsica 
can boast ! " Availing himself of the respite which 
the inactivity of the French, and the weakness of the 
Genoese, allowed, he prosecuted his plans of civilizing 
the people. He used to say that, though he had an 
unspeakable pride in the prospect of the fame to 
which he aspired, yet, if he could but render his 
countrymen happy, he could be content to be forgot- 
ten. His own importance he never affected to under- 
value. "We are now to our country," said he, " like 
the prophet Elisha, stretched over the dead child of 



LIFE OF NELSON. 67 

the Shunammite — eye to eye, nose to nose, mouth 
to mouth. It begins to recover warmth, and to re- 
vive : I hope it will yet regain full health and vigour." 
But when the four years were expired, France pur- 
chased the sovereignty of Corsica from the Genoese 
for forty millions of livres ; as if the Genoese had 
been entitled to sell it ; as if any bargain and sale 
could justify one country in taking possession of 
another against the will of the inhabitants, and 
butchering all who oppose the usurpation ! Among 
the enormities which France has committed, this 
action seems but as a speck ; yet the foulest murderer 
that ever suffered by the hand of the executioner, has 
infinitely less guilt upon his soul than the statesman 
who concluded this treaty, and the monarch who 
sanctioned and confirmed it. A desperate and glori- 
ous resistance was made ; but it was in vain ; no 
power interposed in behalf of these injured islanders, 
and the French poured in as many troops as were re- 
quired. • They offered to confirm Paoli in the supreme 
authority, only on condition that he would hold it 
under their Government. His answer was, that " the 
rocks which surrounded him should melt away before 
he would betray a cause which he held in common 
with the poorest Corsican." This people then set a 
price upon his head. During two campaigns he kept 
them at bay : they overpowered him at length : he 
was driven to the shore, and, having escaped on ship- 
board, took refuge in England. It is said that Lord 
Shelburne resigned his seat in the Cabinet, because 
the Ministry looked on without attempting to pre- 



68 LIFE OF NELSON. 

vent France from succeeding in this abominable and 
important act of aggrandisement. In one respect, 
however, our country acted as became her. Paoli 
was welcomed with the honors which he deserved, a 
pension of j£i2oo was immediately granted him ; and 
provision was liberally made for his elder brother and 
his nephew. 

Above twenty years Paoli remained in England, 
enjoying the friendship of the wise and the admiration 
of the good. But when the French Revolution be- 
gan, it seemed as if the restoration of Corsica was at 
hand. The whole country, as if animated by one 
spirit, rose and demanded liberty ; and the National 
Assembly passed a decree, recognising the island as 
a department of France, and therefore entitled to all 
the privileges of the new French constitution. This 
satisfied the Corsicans, and it satisfied Paoli also. He 
resigned his pension in the year 1790, and appeared 
at the bar of the Assembly with the Corsican deputies, 
when they took the oath of fidelity to France. But 
the course of events in France soon dispelled those 
hopes of a new and better order of things, which 
Paoli, in common with so many of the friends of 
humankind, had indulged : and perceiving, after the 
execution of, the king, that a civil war was about to 
ensue, of which no man could foresee the issue, he 
prepared to break the connection between Corsica 
and the French republic. The convention suspecting 
such a design, and perhaps occasioning it by their 
suspicions, ordered him to their bar. That way, he 
well knew, led to the guillotine ; and returning a re- 



LIFE OF NELSON. 69 

spectful answer, he declared that he would never be 
found wanting in his duty, but pleaded age and 
infirmity as a reason for disobeying the summons. 
Their second order was more summary: and the 
French troops who were in Corsica, aided by those 
of the natives, who were either influenced by heredi- 
tary party feelings, or who were sincere in Jacobinism, 
took the field against him. But the people were with 
him. He repaired to Corte, the capital of the island, 
and was again invested with the authority which he 
had held in the noon-day of his fame. The Conven- 
tion upon this denounced him as a rebel, and set a 
price upon his head. It was not the first time that 
France had proscribed Paoli. 

Paoli now opened a correspondence with Lord 
Hood, promising, if the English would make an attack 
upon St. Fiorenzo from the sea, he would, at the same 
time, attack it by land. This promise he was unable 
to perform : and Commodore Linzee, who, in reliance 
upon it, was sent upon this service, was repulsed 
with some loss. Lord Hood, who had now been 
compelled to evacuate Toulon, suspected Paoli of in- 
tentionally deceiving him. This was an injurious 
suspicion. Shortly afterward he despatched Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel (afterward Sir John) Moore and Major 
Koehler to confer with him upon a plan of opera- 
tions. Sir Gilbert Elliot accompanied them : and it 
was agreed upon that, in consideration of the suc- 
cours, both military and naval, which His Britannic 
Majesty should afford for the purpose of expelling the 
French, the island of Corsica should be delivered into 



jo LIFE OF NELSON. 

the immediate possession of His Majesty, and bind it- 
self to acquiesce in any settlement he might approve 
of concerning its government and its future relation 
with Great Britain. While this negotiation was 
going on, Nelson cruised off the island with a small 
squadron, to prevent the enemy from throwing in 
supplies. Close to St. Fiorenzo the French had a 
storehouse of flour, near their only mill : he watched 
an opportunity, and landed 120 men, who threw the 
flour into the sea, burnt the mill, and re-embarked 
before 1000 men, who were sent against him, could 
occasion them the loss of a single man. While he 
exerted himself thus, keeping out all supplies, inter- 
cepting despatches, attacking their out-posts and 
forts, and cutting out vessels from the bay, — a species 
of warfare which depresses the spirit of an enemy 
even more than it injures them, because of the sense 
of individual superiority which it indicates in the 
assailants, — troops were landed, and St. Fiorenzo was 
besieged. The French finding themselves unable to 
maintain that post, sunk one of their frigates, burnt 
another, and retreated to Bastia. Lord Hood sub- 
mitted to General Dundas,who commanded the land 
forces a plan for the reduction of this place : the 
general declined co-operating, thinking the attempt 
impracticable without a reinforcement of 2000 men, 
which he expected from Gibraltar. Upon this Lord 
Hood determined to reduce it with the naval force 
under his command ; and leaving part of his fleet off 
Toulon, he came with the rest to Bastia. 

He showed a proper sense of respect for Nelson's 



LIFE OF NELSON. 71 

services, and of confidence in his talents, by taking 
care not to bring with him any older captain. A few 
days before their arrival, Nelson had had what he 
called a brush with the enemy. " If I had had with 
me five hundred troops," he said, "to a certainty I 
should have stormed the town ; and I believe it might 
have been carried. Armies go so slow, that seamen 
think they never mean to get forward : but I daresay 
they act on a surer principle, although we seldom 
fail." During this partial action our army appeared 
upon the heights ; and having reconnoitred the place, 
returned to St. Fiorenzo. " What the general could 
have seen to make a retreat necessary," said Nelson, 
"■ I cannot comprehend. A thousand men would 
certainly take Bastia ; with five hundred and ' Aga- 
memnon ' I would attempt it. My seamen are now 
what British seamen ought to be, almost invincible. 
They really mind shot no more than peas." General 
Dundas had not the same confidence. " After mature 
consideration," said he in a letter to Lord Hood, "and 
a personal inspection for several days of all circum- 
stances, local as well as others, I consider the siege 
of Bastia, with our present means and force, to be a 
most visionary and rash attempt ; such as no officer 
would be justified in undertaking." Lord Hood 
replied, that nothing would be more gratifying to his 
feelings than to have the whole responsibility upon 
himself; and that he was ready and willing to under- 
take the reduction of the place at his own risk, with 
the force and means at present there. General 
D' Aubant, who succeeded at this time to the command 



72 LIFE OF NELSON. 

of the army, coincided in opinion with his predecessor, 
and did not think it right to furnish his lordship with 
a single soldier, cannon, or any stores. Lord Hood 
could only obtain a few artillerymen ; and ordering on 
board that part of the troops who, having been em- 
barked as marines, were borne on the ships books as 
part of their respective complements, he began the 
siege with 1183 soldiers, artillerymen, and marines, 
and 250 sailors. " We are but few," said Nelson, 
" but of the right sort ; our general at St. Fiorenzo 
not giving us one of the five regiments he has there 
lying idle." 

These men were landed on the 4th of April, under 
Lieutenant-Colonel Villettes and Nelson, who had 
now acquired from the army the title of brigadier. 
Guns were dragged by the sailors up heights where 
it appeared almost impossible to convey them — a 
work of the greatest difficulty ; and which Nelson 
said could never, in his opinion, have been accom- 
plished by any but British seamen. The soldiers, 
though less dexterous in such service, because not 
accustomed, like sailors, to habitual dexterity, behaved 
with equal spirit. " Their zeal," said the brigadier, 
" is almost unexampled. There is not a man but 
considers himself as personally interested in the event ; 
and, deserted by the general, it has, I am persuaded, 
made them equal to double their numbers." This is 
one proof, of many, that for our soldiers to equal our 
seamen, it is only necessary for them to be equally 
well commanded. They have the same heart and 
soul, as well as the same flesh and blood. Too much 



LIFE OF NELSON. 73 

may, indeed, be exacted from them in a retreat ; bu 
set their face toward a foe, and there is nothing 
within the reach of human achievement which they 
cannot perform. The French had improved the 
leisure which our military commander had allowed 
them ; and before Lord Hood commenced his opera- 
tions, he had the mortification of seeing that the 
enemy were every day erecting new works, strength- 
ening old ones, and rendering the attempt more diffi- 
cult. La Combe St. Michel, the commissioner from 
the National Convention, who was in the city, replied 
in these terms to the summons of the British admiral : 
" I have hot shot for your ships, and bayonets for your 
troops. When two-thirds of our men are killed, I 
will then trust to the generosity of the English." The 
siege, however, was not sustained with the firmness 
which such a reply seemed to augur. On the 19th 
of May a treaty of capitulation was begun : that same 
evening the troops from St. Fiorenzo made their ap- 
pearance on the hills, and on the following morning 
General D'Aubant arrived with the whole army to 
take possession of Bastia. 

The event of the siege had justified the confidence 
of the sailors ; but they themselves excused the opin- 
ion of the generals, when they saw what they had 
done. " I am all astonishment," said Nelson, " when 
I reflect on what we have achieved : 1000 regulars, 
1500 national guards, and a large party of Corsican 
troops, 4000 in all, laying down their arms to 1200 
soldiers, marines, and seamen ! I always was of 
opinion, have ever acted up to it, and never had any 



74 LIFE OF NELSON. 

reason to repent it, that one Englishman was equal 
to three Frenchmen. Had this been an English 
town, I am sure it would not have been taken by 
them." When it had been resolved to attack the 
place, the enemy were supposed to be far inferior in 
number; and it was not till the whole had been 
arranged, and the siege publicly undertaken, that 
Nelson received certain information of the great 
superiority of the garrison. This intelligence he kept 
secret, fearing lest, if so fair a pretext were afforded, 
the attempt would be abandoned. " My own honour," 
said he to his wife, " Lord Hood's honour, and the 
honour of our country, must have been sacrificed, had 
I mentioned what I knew ; therefore you will believe 
what must have been my feelings during the whole 
siege, when I had often proposals made to me to 
write to Lord Hood to raise it." Those very persons 
who thus advised him were rewarded for their con- 
duct at the siege of Bastia : Nelson, by whom it may 
truly be affirmed that Bastia was taken, received no 
reward. Lord Hood's thanks to him, both public 
and private, were, as he himself said, the handsomest 
which man could give : but. his signal merits were 
not so mentioned in the despatches, as to make them 
sufficiently known to the nation, nor to obtain for 
him from Government those honours to which they so 
amply entitled him. This could only have arisen 
from the haste in which the despatches were written ; 
certainly not from any deliberate purpose, for Lord 
Hood was uniformly his steady and sincere friend. 
One of the Cartel's ships, which carried the garri- 



LIFE OF NELSON. 75 

son of Bastia to Toulon, brought back intelligence 
that the French were about to sail from that port ; — 
such exertions had they made to repair the damage 
done at the evacuation, and to fit out a fleet. The 
intelligence was speedily verified. Lord Hood sailed 
in quest of them toward the islands of Hieres. The 
" Agamemnon " was with him. " I pray God," said 
Nelson, writing to his wife, " that we may meet their 
fleet. If any accident should happen to me, I am 
sure my conduct will be such as will entitle you to 
the royal favour, — not that I have the least idea but I 
shall return -to you, and full of honour ; — if not, the 
Lord's will be done. My name shall never be a dis- 
grace to those who may belong to me. The little I 
have, I have given to you, except a small annuity ; I 
wish it was more, but I have never got a farthing 
dishonestly, — it descends from clean hands. What- 
ever fate awaits me, I pray God to bless you, and 
preserve you, for your son's sake." With a mind 
thus prepared, and thus confident, his hopes and 
wishes seemed on the point of being gratified, when 
the enemy were discovered close under the land, near 
St. Tropez. The wind fell, and prevented Lord Hood 
from getting between them and the shore, as he de- 
signed ; boats came out from Antibes and other 
places to their assistance, and towed them within 
the shoals in Gourjean roads, where they were pro- 
tected by the batteries on isles St. Honore and St. 
Marguerite, and on Cape Garousse. Here the 
English admiral planned a new mode of attack, 
meaning to double on five of the nearest ships ; but 



76 LIFE OF NELSON. 

the wind again died away, and it was found that they 
had anchored in compact order, guarding- the only 
passage for large ships. There was noway of effect- 
ing this passage, except by towing or warping the 
vessels ; and this rendered the attempt impracticable. 
For this time the enemy escaped ; but Nelson bore 
in mind the admirable plan of attack which Lord 
Hood had devised, and there came a day when they 
felt its tremendous effects. 

The " Agamemnon " was now despatched to co- 
operate at the siege of Calvi with General and Sir 
Charles Stuart ; an officer who, unfortunately for his 
country, never had an adequate field allotted him for 
the display of those eminent talents which were, to 
all who knew him, so conspicuous.* Nelson had less 
responsibility here than at Bastia ; and was acting 
with a man after his own heart, who was never spar- 
ing of himself, and slept every night in the advanced 
battery. But the service was not less hard than that 
of the former siege. "We will fag ourselves to 
death," said he to Lord Hood, " before any blame 
shall lie at our doors. I trust it will not be forgotten, 
that twenty-five pieces of heavy ordnance have been 
dragged to the different batteries, mounted, and, all 
but three, fought by seamen, except one artilleryman 
to point the guns." The climate proved more de- 
structive than the service ; for this was during the 
lion sun, as they there call our season of the dog- 
days. Of 2000 men above half were sick, and the 

* Lord Melville was fully sensible of these talents, and bore testi- 
mony to them in the handsomest manner, after Sir Charles' death. 



LIFE OF NELSON. 77 

rest like so many phantoms. Nelson described him- 
self as the reed among the oaks, bowing before the 
storm when they were laid low by it. " All the pre- 
vailing disorders have attacked me," said he, "but I 
have not strength enough for them to fasten on." 
The loss from the enemy was not great ; but Nelson 
received a serious injury ; a shot struck the ground 
near him, and drove the sand and small gravel into 
one of his eyes. He spoke of it slightly at the time : 
writing the same day to Lord Hood, he only said that 
he got a little hurt that morning, not much ; and the 
next day, he said he should be able to attend his duty 
in the evening. In fact, he suffered it to confine him 
only one day ; but the sight was lost. 

After the fall of Calvi, his services were, by a 
strange omission, altogether overlooked; and his 
name was not even mentioned in the list of wounded. 
This was no ways imputable to the admiral, for he 
sent home to Government Nelson's journal of the 
siege, that they might fully understand the nature of 
his indefatigable and unequalled exertions. If those 
exertions were not rewarded in the conspicuous man- 
ner which they deserved, the fault was in the admin- 
istration of the day, not in Lord Hood. Nelson felt 
himself neglected. " One hundred and ten days," 
said he, " I have been actually engaged, at sea and 
on shore, against the enemy ; three actions against 
ships, two against Bastia in my ship, four boat actions, 
and two villages taken, and twelve sail of vessels 
burnt. I do not know that any one has done more. 
I have had the comfort to be always applauded by my 



78 LIFE OF NELSON. 

commander-in-chief, but never to be rewarded ; and 
what is more mortifying, for services, in which I have 
been wounded, others have been praised, who, at the 
same time, were actually in bed, far from the scene of 
action. They have not done me justice. But, never 
mind, I'll have a gazette of my own." How amply 
was this second-sight of glory realised ! 

The health of his ship's company had now, in his 
own words, been miserably torn to pieces by as hard 
service as a ship's crew ever performed : 1 50 were in 
their beds when he left Calvi ; of them he lost 50, 
and believed that the constitutions of the rest were 
entirely destroyed. He was now sent with despatches 
to Mr. Drake, at Genoa, and had his first interview 
with the Doge. The French had, at this time, taken 
possession of Vado Bay, in the Genoese territory ; 
and Nelson foresaw that, if their thoughts were bent 
on the invasion of Italy, they would accomplish it the 
ensuing spring. " The allied powers," he said, " were 
jealous of each other ; and none but England was 
hearty in the cause." His wish was foV peace, on 
fair terms, because England, he thought, was drain- 
ing herself to maintain allies who would not fight for 
themselves. Lord Hood had now returned to Eng- 
land ; and the command devolved on Admiral Hot- 
ham. The affairs of the Mediterranean wore at this 
time a gloomy aspect. The arts, as well as the arms 
of the enemy, were gaining the ascendency there. 
Tuscany concluded peace, relying upon the faith of 
France, which was, in fact, placing itself at her 
mercy. Corsica was in danger. We had taken that 



LIFE OF NELSON. 79 

island for ourselves, annexed it formally to the Crown 
of Great Britain, and given it a constitution as free as 
our own. This was done with the consent of the ma- 
jority of the inhabitants : and no transaction between 
two countries was ever more fairly or legitimately 
conducted : yet our conduct was unwise ; — the island is 
large enough to form an independent state, and such 
we should have made it, under our protection, as long 
as protection might be needed ; the Corsicans would 
then have felt as a nation ; but when one party had 
given up the country to England, the natural con- 
sequence was, that the other looked to France. The 
question proposed to the people was, To which would 
they belong ? Our language and our religion were 
against us ; our unaccommodating manners, it is to be 
feared, still more so. The French were better poli- 
ticians. In intrigue they have ever been unrivalled ; 
and it now became apparent, that, in spite of old 
wrongs, which ought never to have been forgotten or 
forgiven, their partisans were daily acquiring strength. 
It is part of the policy of France, and a wise policy it 
is, to impress upon other powers the opinion of its 
strength by lofty language, and by threatening before 
it strikes ; a system which, while it keeps up the spirit 
of its allies, and perpetually stimulates their hopes, 
tends also to dismay its enemies. Corsica was now 
loudly threatened. The French, who had not yet 
been taught to feel their own inferiority upon the 
seas, braved us, in contempt, upon that element. 
They had a superior fleet in the Mediterranean, and 
they sent it out with express orders to seek the Eng- 



80 LIFE OF NELSON. 

lish and engage them. Accordingly, the Toulon fleet, 
consisting of seventeen ships of the line and five 
smaller vessels, put to sea. Admiral Hotham re- 
ceived this information at Leghorn, and sailed im- 
mediately in search of them. He had with him four- 
teen sail of the line, and one Neapolitan 74 ; but his 
ships were only half manned, containing but 7650 
men, whereas the enemy had 16,900. He soon came 
in sight of them ; a general action was expected ; and 
Nelson, as was his custom on such occasions, wrote 
a hasty letter to his wife, as that which might pos- 
sibly contain his last farewell. " The lives of all," 
said he, " are in the hand of Him who knows best 
whether to preserve mine or not : my character and 
good name are in my own keeping." 

But however confident the French Government 
might be of their naval superiority, the officers had 
no such feeling ; and after manoeuvring for a day in 
sight of the English fleet, they suffered themselves to 
be chased. One of their ships, the " Ca Ira," of 84 
guns, carried away her main and fore topmasts. The 
" Inconstant " frigate fired at the disabled ship, but 
received so many shot, that she was obliged to leave 
her. Soon afterwards a French frigate took the 
" Ca Ira" in tow; and the " Sans Culottes," 120, and 
the " Jean Barras," 74, kept about gun-shot distance 
on her weather bow. The " Agamemnon " stood to- 
wards her, having no ship of the line to support her 
within several miles. As she drew near, the " Ca 
Ira" fired her stern guns so truly, that not a shot 
missed some part of the ship, and, latterly, the masts 






LIFE OF NELSON. 81 

were struck by every shot. It had been Nelson's in- 
tention not to fire before he touched her stern ; but 
seeing- how impossible it was that he should be sup- 
ported, and how certainly the " Agamemnon " must 
be severely cut up, if her masts were disabled, he 
altered his plan according to the occasion. As soon, 
therefore, as he was within a hundred yards of her 
stern, he ordered the helm to be put a starboard, and 
the driver and after-sails to be brailed up and shivered, 
and as the ship fell off, gave the enemy her whole 
broadside. They instantly braced up the after-yards, 
put the helm a-port, and stood after her again. This 
manoeuvre he practised for two hours and a quarter, 
never allowing the " Ca Ira " to get a single gun from 
either side to bear on him ; and when the French 
fired their after-guns now, it was no longer with cool- 
ness and precision, for every shot went far a-head, 
By this time her sails were hanging in tatters, her 
mizen-topmast, mizen topsail, and cross-jack-yards, 
shot away. But the frigate which had her in tow 
hove in stays, and got her round. Both these French 
ships now brought their guns to bear, and opened 
their fire. The " Agamemnon " passed them within 
half pistol-shot ; almost every shot passed over her, 
for the French had elevated their guns for the rigging, 
and for distant firing, and did not think of altering 
the elevation. As soon as the " Agamemnon's " 
after-guns ceased to bear, she hove in stays, keeping 
a constant fire as she came round ; and being worked, 
said Nelson, with as much exactness as if she had 
been turning into Spithead. On getting round he 
6 



82 LIFE OF NELSON. 



saw that the " Sans Culottes," which had wore with 
many of the enemy's ships, was under his lee bow, 
and standing to leeward. The admiral, at the same 
time, made the signal for the van ships to join him. 
Upon this Nelson bore away, and prepared to set all 
sail ; and the enemy, having saved their ship, hauled 
close to the wind, and opened upon him a distant and 
ineffectual fire. Only seven of the " Agamemnon's " 
men were hurt, — a thing which Nelson himself 
remarked as wonderful : her sails and rigging were 
very much cut, and she had many shots in her hull, 
and some between wind and water. The " Ca Ira " 
lost 1 10 men that day, and was so cut up that she 
could not get a topmast aloft during the night. 

At daylight, on the following morning, the English 
ships were taken aback with a fine breeze at N. W., 
while the enemy's fleet kept the southerly wind. The 
body of their fleet was about five miles distant ; the 
" Ca Ira," and the " Censeur," 74, which had her in 
tow, about three and a half. All sail was made to 
cut these ships off : and as the French attempted to 
save them, a partial action was brought on. The 
" Agamemnon " was again engaged with her yester- 
day's antagonist ; but she had to fight on both sides 
the ship at the same time. The " Ca Ira" and the 
"Censeur" fought most gallantly: the first lost 
nearly 300 men, in addition to her former loss ; the 
last, 350. Both at last struck : and Lieutenant 
Andrews, of the " Agamemnon," brother to the lady 
to whom Nelson had become attached in France, and, 
in Nelson's own words, " as gallant an officer as 



LIFE OF NELSON. 83 

ever stepped a quarter-deck," hoisted English colours 
on board them both. The rest of the enemy's ships 
behaved very ill. As soon as these vessels had 
struck, Nelson went to Admiral Hotham and pro- 
posed that the two prizes should be left with the 
" Illustrious " and " Courageux," which had been 
crippled in the action, and with four frigates, and that 
the rest of the fleet should pursue the enemy, and 
follow up the advantage to the utmost. But his 
reply was — " We must be contented : we have done 
very well." "Now," said Nelson, "had we taken 
ten sail, and allowed the eleventh to escape, when it 
had been possible to have got at her, I could never 
have called it well done. Goodall backed me : I got 
him to write to the admiral ; but it would not do. 
We should have had such a day as, I believe, the 
annals of England never produced." In this letter, 
the character of Nelson fully manifests itself. " I 
wish," said he, "to be an admiral, and in the com- 
mand of the English fleet ; I should very soon either 
do much, or be ruined : my disposition cannot bear 
tame and slow measures, Sure I am, had I com- 
manded on the 14th, that either the whole French 
fleet would have graced my triumph, or I should 
have been in a confounded scrape." What the event 
would have been, he knew from his prophetic feel- 
ings, and his own consciousness of power ; and we 
also know it now, for Aboukir and Trafalgar have 
told it us. 

The " Ca Ira" and " Censeur" probably defended 
themselves with more obstinacy in this action, from 



84 LIFE OF NELSON. 

a persuasion that, if they struck, no quarter would 
be given ; because they had fired red-hot shot, and 
had also a preparation sent, as they said, by the Con- 
vention from Paris, which seems to have been of the 
nature of the Greek fire ; for it became liquid when 
it was discharged, and water would not extinguish 
its flame. This combustible was concealed with 
great care in the captured ships ; like the red-hot 
shot, it had been found useless in battle. Admiral 
Hotham's action saved Corsica for the time ; but the 
victory had been incomplete, and the arrival at Toulon 
of six sail of the line, two frigates, and two cutters 
from Brest, gave the French a superiority which, had 
they known how to use it, would materially have 
endangered the British Mediterranean fleet. That 
fleet had been greatly neglected during Lord Chat- 
ham's administration at the Admiralty; and it did 
not, for some time, feel the beneficial effect of his 
removal. Lord Hood had gone home to represent 
the real state of affairs, and solicit reinforcements 
adequate to the exigencies of the time, and the im- 
portance of the scene of action. But that fatal error 
of under-proportioning the force to the service, that 
ruinous economy, which, by sparing a little, renders 
all that is spent useless, infected the British councils ; 
and Lord Hood, not being able to obtain such rein- 
forcements as he knew were necessary, resigned the 
command. "Surely," said Nelson, "the people at 
home have forgotten us." Another Neapolitan 74 
joined Admiral Hotham ; and Nelson observed with 
sorrow, that this was matter of exultation to an Eng- 






LIFE OF NELSON. 85 

lish fleet. When the store-ships and victuallers from 
Gibraltar arrived, their escape from the enemy was 
thought wonderful ; and yet, had they not escaped, 
"the game," said Nelson, "was up here. At this 
moment our operations are at a stand for want of 
ships to support the Austrians in getting possession 
of the sea-coast of the King of Sardinia ; and, behold, 
our admiral does not feel himself equal to show him- 
self, much less to give assistance in their operations." 
It was reported that the French were again out with 
eighteen or twenty sail. The combined British and 
Neapolitan were but sixteen ; should the enemy be 
only eighteen, Nelson made no doubt of a complete 
victory ; but if they were twenty, he said, it was not 
to be expected : and a battle without complete victory 
would have been destruction, because another mast 
was not to be got on that side Gibraltar. At length 
Admiral Man arrived with a squadron from England. 
"What they can mean by sending him with only five 
sail of the line," said Nelson, " is truly astonishing : 
but all men are alike, and we in this country do not 
find any amendment or alteration from the old Board 
of Admiralty. They should know that half the ships 
in the fleet require to go to England ; and that long 
ago they ought to have reinforced us." 

About this time Nelson was made colonel of 
marines, — a mark of approbation which he had long 
wished for rather than expected. It came in good 
season, for his spirits were oppressed by the thought 
that his services had not been acknowledged as they 
deserved ; and it abated the resentful feeling which 



86 LIFE OF NELSON. 



would else have been excited by the answer to an ap- 
plication to the War Office. During his four months' 
land service in Corsica, he had lost all his ship-fur- 
niture, owing to the movements of a camp. Upon 
this he wrote to the Secretary at War, briefly stating 
what his services on shore had been, and saying, he 
trusted it was not asking an improper thing to re- 
quest that the same allowance might be made to him 
which would be made to a land officer of his rank, 
which, situated as he was, would be that of a brig- 
adier-general : if this could not be accorded, he 
hoped that his additional expenses would be paid 
him. The answer which he received was, that " no 
pay had ever been issued under the direction of the 
War Office to officers of the navy serving with the 
army on shore." 

He now entered upon a new line of service. The 
Austrian and Sardinian armies, under General de 
Vins required a British squadron to co-operate with 
them in driving the French from the Riviera di 
Genoa ; and as Nelson had been so much in the habit 
of soldiering, it was immediately fixed that the brig- 
adier should go. He sailed from St. Fiorenzo on this 
destination ; but fell in, off Cape del Mele, with the 
enemy's fleet, who immediately gave his squadron 
chase. The chase lasted four and twenty hours ; and, 
owing to the fickleness of the w r ind, the British ships 
were sometimes hard pressed ; but the want of skill 
on the part of the French gave them many advan- 
tages. Nelson bent his way back to St. Fiorenzo, 
where the fleet, which was in the midst of watering 



. 



LIFE OF NELSON. 87 

and refitting, had, for seven hours, the mortification 
of seeing him almost in possession of the enemy, be- 
fore the wind would allow them to put out to his 
assistance. The French, however, at evening, went 
off, not choosing to approach nearer the shore. 
During the night Admiral Hotham, by great exer- 
tions, got under weigh ; and, having sought the 
enemy four days, came in sight of them on the 5th. 
Baffling winds, and vexatious calms, so common in 
the Mediterranean, rendered it impossible to close 
with them ; only a partial action could be brought 
on : and then the firing made a perfect calm. The 
French being to windward, drew in shore ; and the 
English fleet was becalmed six or seven miles to the 
westward. " L'Alcide," of 74 guns, struck; but, be- 
fore she could be taken possession of, a box of com- 
bustibles in her foretop took fire, and the unhappy 
crew experienced how far more perilous their inven- 
tions were to themselves than to their enemies. So 
rapid was the conflagration, that the French, in their 
official account, say, the hull, the masts and sails, all 
seemed to take fire at the same moment ; and though 
the English boats were put out to the assistance of 
the poor wretches on board, not more than 200 could 
be saved. The " Agamemnon," and Captain Rowley, 
in the "Cumberland," were just getting into close 
action a second time, when the admiral called them 
off, the wind now being directly into the Gulf of 
Frejus, where the enemy anchored after the evening 
closed. 

Nelson now proceeded to his station with eight 



LIFE OF NELSON. 



sail of frigates under his command. Arriving at 
Genoa, he had a conference with Mr. Drake, the 
British envoy to that state ; the result of which was, 
that the object of the British must be to put an entire 
stop to all trade between Genoa, France, and the 
places occupied by the French troops ; for, unless 
this trade were stopped, it would be scarcely possible 
for the allied armies to hold their situation, and im- 
possible for them to make any progress in driving 
the enemy out of the Riviera di Genoa. Mr. Drake 
was of opinion that even Nice might fall for want of 
supplies, if the trade with Genoa were cut off. This 
sort of blockade Nelson could not carry on without 
great risk to himself. A captain in the navy, as he 
represented to the envoy, is liable to prosecution for 
detention and damages. This danger was increased 
by an order which had then lately been issued ; by 
which, when a neutral ship was detained, a complete 
specification of her cargo was directed to be sent to 
the Secretary of the Admiralty, and no legal process 
instituted against her till the pleasure of that board 
should be communicated. This was requiring an 
impossibility. The cargoes of ships detained upon 
this station, consisting chiefly of corn, would be 
spoiled long before the orders of the Admiralty could 
be known ; and then, if they should happen to release 
the vessel, the owners would look to the captain for 
damages. Even the only precaution which could be 
taken against this danger, involved another danger 
not less to be apprehended ; for if the captain should 
direct the cargo to be taken out, the freight paid for, 



at 



LIFE OF NELSON. 89 

and the vessel released, the agent employed might 
prove fraudulent and become bankrupt ; and in that 
case the captain became responsible. Such things 
had happened : Nelson therefore required, as the 
only means for carrying on that service which was 
judged essential to the common cause, without ex- 
posing the officers to ruin, that the British envoy 
should appoint agents to pay the freight, release the 
vessels, sell the cargo, and hold the amount till pro- 
cess was had upon it : Government thus securing 
its officers. " I am acting," said Nelson, " not only 
without the orders of my commander-in-chief, but, in 
some measure, contrary to him. However, I have 
not only the support of His Majesty's ministers, both 
at Turin and Genoa, but a consciousness that I am 
doing what is right and proper for the service of our 
king and country. Political courage, in an officer 
abroad, is as highly necessary as military courage." 
This quality, which is as much rarer than military 
courage, as it is more valuable, and without which 
the soldier's bravery is often of little avail, Nelson 
possessed in an eminent degree. His representations 
were attended to as they deserved. Admiral Hotham 
commended him for what he had done ; and the at- 
tention of Government was awakened to the injury 
which the cause of the allies continually suffered 
from the frauds of neutral vessels. " What changes 
in my life of activity ! " said this indefatigable man. 
" Here I am : having commenced a co-operation 
with an old Austrian general, almost fancying 
myself charging at the head of a troop of horse ! — I 



90 LIFE OF NELSON. 

do not write less than from ten to twenty letters every 
clay ; which, with the Austrian general and aides-de- 
camp, and my own little squadron, fully employ my 
time. This I like, — active service, or none." It was 
Nelson's mind which supported his feeble body 
through these exertions. He was at this time almost 
blind, and wrote with very great pain. " Poor 
'Agamemnon,' " he sometimes said, "was as nearly 
worn out as her captain ; and both must soon be 
laid up to repair." 

When Nelson first saw General de Vins, he thought 
him an able man, who was willing to act with vigour. 
The general charged his inactivity upon thePiedmon- 
tese and Neapolitians, whom, he said, nothing could 
induce to act ; and he concerted a plan with Nelson, 
for embarking a part of the Austrian army, and land- 
ing it in the rear of the French. But the English 
commodore soon began to suspect that the Austrian 
general was little disposed to any active operations. 
In the hope of spurring him on, he wrote, to him, telling 
him that he had surveyed the coast to the westward as 
far as Nice, and would undertake to embark 4000 or 
5000 men, with their arms and a few days' provis- 
ions, on board the squadron, and land them within 
two miles of St. Remo, with their field-pieces. Re- 
specting further provisions for the Austrian army, 
he would provide convoys, that they should arrive in 
safety; and if a re-embarkation should be found 
necessary, he would cover it with the squadron. 
The possession of St. Remo, as headquarters for 
magazines of every kind, would enable the Austrian 






LIFE OF NELSON. 91 

general to turn his army to the eastward or west- 
ward. The enemy at Oneglia would be cut off from 
provisions, and men could be landed to attack that 
place whenever it was judged necessary. St. Remo 
was the only place between Vado and Ville Franche 
where the squadron could lie in safety, and anchor 
in almost all winds. The bay was not as good as 
Vado for large ships ; but it had a mole, which Vado 
had not, where all small vessels could lie, and load 
and unload their cargoes. This bay being in pos- 
session of the allies, Nice could be completely 
blockaded by sea. General de Vins affecting, in his 
reply, to consider that Nelson's proposal had no 
other end than that of obtaining the Bay of St. Remo 
as a station for the ships, told him, what he well 
knew, and had expressed before, that Vado Bay was 
a better anchorage ; nevertheless, if Monsieur le 
Commanda?it Nelson was well assured that part of 
the fleet could winter there, there was no risk to 
which he would not expose himself with pleasure, for 
the sake of procuring a safe station for the vessels of 
His Britannic Majesty. Nelson soon assured the 
Austrian commander, that this was not the object of 
his memorial. He now began to suspect that both 
the Austrian courts and their general had other ends 
in view than the cause of the allies. " This army," 
said he, " is slow beyond all description ; and I begin 
to think that the Emperor is anxious to touch another 
four millions of English money. As for the German 
generals, war is their trade, and peace is ruin to 
them ; therefore we cannot expect that they should 



92 LIFE OF NELSON. 

have any wish to finish the war. The politics of 
courts are so mean, that private people would be 
ashamed to act in the same way: all is trick and 
finesse, to which the common cause is sacrificed. 
The general wants a loophole : it has for some time 
appeared to me that he means to go no farther than 
his present position, and to lay the miscarriage of the 
enterprise against Nice, which has always been held 
out as the great object of his army, to the non-co- 
operation of the British fleet, and of the Sardinians." 
To prevent this plea Nelson again addressed De 
Vins, requesting only to know the time, and the 
number of troops ready to embark ; then he would, 
he said, despatch a ship to Admiral Hotham, re- 
questing transports, having no doubt of obtaining 
them, and trusting that the plan would be successful 
to its fullest extent. Nelson thought at the time, 
that if the whole fleet were offered him for trans- 
ports, he would find some other excuse : and Mr. 
Drake, who was now appointed to reside at the Aus- 
trian headquarters, entertained the same idea of the 
general's sincerity. It was not, however, put so 
clearly to the proof as it ought to have been. He re- 
plied, that as soon as Nelson could declare himself 
ready with the vessels necessary for conveying 10,000 
men with their artilery and baggage, he would put the 
army in motion. But Nelson was not enabled to do 
this : Admiral Hotham, who was highly meritorious 
in leaving such a man so much at his own discretion, 
pursued a cautious system, ill-according with the 
bold and comprehensive views of Nelson, who con- 



LIFE OF NELSON. 93 

tinually regretted Lord Hood, saying, that the nation 
had suffered much by his resignation of the Mediter- 
ranean command. The plan which had been con- 
certed, he said, would astonish the French, and per- 
haps the English. 

There was no unity in the views of the allied 
powers, no cordality in their co-operation, no energy 
in their councils. The neutral powers assisted 
France more effectually than the allies assisted each 
other. The Genoese ports were at this time filled 
with French privateers, which swarmed out every 
night, and covered the gulf ; and French vessels were 
allowed to tow out of the port of Genoa itself, board 
vessels which were coming in, and then return into 
the mole. This was allowed without a remonstrance ; 
while, though Nelson abstained most carefully from 
offering any offence to the Genoese territory or flag, 
complaints were so repeatedly made against his squad- 
ron, that, he says, it seemed a trial who should be tired 
first — they of complaining, or he of answering their 
complaints. But the question of neutrality was soon 
at an end. An Austrian commissary was travelling 
from Genoa towards Vado ; it was known that he 
was to sleep at Voltri, and that he had ;£ 10,000 with 
him ; a booty which the French minister in that city, 
and the captain of a French frigate in that port, con- 
sidered as far more important than the word of honour 
of the one, the duties of the other, and the laws of 
neutrality. The boats of the frigate went out with 
some privateers, landed, robbed the commissary, and 
brought back the money to Genoa. The next day 



94 LIFE OF NELSON. 



nrh 



men were publicly enlisted in that city for the French 
army : 700 men were embarked, with 7000 stand of 
arms, on board the frigates and other vessels, who 
were to land between Voltri and Savona : — there a 
detachment from the French army was to join them, 
and the Genoese peasantry were to be invited to 
insurrection, — a measure for which everything- had 
been prepared. The night of the 13th was fixed for 
the sailing of this expedition : the Austrians called 
loudly for Nelson to prevent it ; and he, on the eve- 
ning of the 13th, arrived at Genoa. His presence 
checked the plan : the frigate, knowing her deserts, 
got within the merchant-ships in the inner mole ; and 
the Genoese Government did not now even demand 
of Nelson respect to the neutral port, knowing that 
they had allowed, if not connived at, a flagrant breach 
of neutrality, and expecting the answer which he was 
prepared to return, that it was useless and impossible 
for him to respect it longer. 

But though this movement produced the immedi- 
ate effect which was designed, it led to ill conse- 
quences, which Nelson foresaw, but want of sufficient 
force, was unable to prevent. His squadron was too 
small for the service which it had to perform. He 
required two seventy-fours, and eight or ten frigates 
and sloops ; but when he demanded this reinforce- 
ment, Admiral Hotham had left the command ; Sir 
Hyde Parker succeeded, till the new commander 
should arrive ; and he immediately reduced it almost 
to nothing, leaving him only one frigate and a brig. 
This was a fatal error. While the Austrian and 



LIFE OF NELSON. 95 

Sardinian troops, whether from the imbecility or the 
treachery of their leaders, remained inactive, the 
French were preparing for the invasion of Italy. 
Not many days before Nelson was thus summoned 
to Genoa, he chased a large convoy into Alassio. 
Twelve vessels he had formerly destroyed in that 
port, though 2000 French troops occupied the town : 
this former attack had made them take new measures 
of defence ; and there were now above ioo sail of 
victuallers, gunboats, and ships of war. Nelson 
represented to the admiral how important it was to 
destroy these vessels ; and offered, with his squadron 
of frigates, and the " Culloden " and " Courageux," to 
lead himself in the " Agamemnon," and take or des- 
troy the whole. The attempt was not permitted ; 
but it was Nelson's belief that, if it had been made, 
it would have prevented the attack upon the Austrian 
army, which took place almost immediately after- 
wards. 

General de Vins demanded satisfaction of the 
Genoese Government for the seizure of his commis- 
sary ; and then, not waiting for their reply, took pos- 
session of some empty magazines of the French, and 
pushed his sentinels to the very gates of Genoa. 
Had he done so at first, he would have found the 
magazines full ; but, timed as the measure was, and 
useless as it was to the cause of the allies, it was in 
character with the whole of the Austrian general's 
conduct; and it is no small proof of the dexterity 
with which he served the enemy, that in such circum- 
stances he could so act with Genoa, as to contrive to 



96 LIFE OF NELSON. 

put himself in the wrong. Nelson was at this time, 
according to his own expression, placed in a cleft 
stick. Mr. Drake, the Austrian minister, and the 
Austrian general, all joined in requiring him not to 
leave Genoa; if he left that port unguarded, they 
said, not only the imperial troops at St. Pier d'Arena 
and Voltri would be lost, but the French plan for 
taking post between Voltri and Savona would cer- 
tainly succeed ; if the Austrians should be worsted 
in the advanced posts, the retreat by the Bocchetta 
would be cut off ; and if this happened, the loss of 
the army would be imputed to him, for having left 
Genoa. On the other hand, he knew, that if he were 
not at Pietra, the enemy's gunboats would harass 
the left flank of the Austrians, who, if they were de- 
feated, as was to be expected from the spirit of all 
their operations, would, very probably, lay their de- 
feat to the want of assistance from the " Agamem- 
non." Had the force for which Nelson applied been 
given him, he could have attended to both objects : 
and had he been permitted to attack the convoy in 
Alassio, he would have disconcerted the plans of the 
French, in spite of the Austrian general. He had 
foreseen the danger, and pointed out how it might 
be prevented ; but the means of preventing it were 
withheld. The attack was made, as he foresaw ; and 
the gunboats brought their fire to bear upon the 
Austrians. It so happened, however, that the left 
flank, which was exposed to them, was the only part 
of the army that behaved well ; this division stood 
its ground till the center and the right wing fled, 



LIFE OF NELSON. 97 

and then retreated in a soldier-like manner. General 
de Vins gave up the command in the middle of the 
battle, pleading ill health. " From that moment," 
says Nelson, "not a soldier stayed at his post — it 
was the devil take the hindmost. Many thousands 
ran away who had never seen the enemy ; some of 
them thirty miles from the advanced posts. Had I 
not, though I own, against my inclination, been kept 
at Genoa, from 8000 to 10,000 men would have 
been taken prisoners, and, amongst the number, 
General de Vins himself; but, by this means, the 
pass of the Bochetta was kept open. The pursuer of 
the ship, who was at Vado, ran with the Austrians 
eighteen miles without stopping; the men without 
arms, officers without soldiers, women without assist- 
ance. The oldest officer, say they, never heard of so 
complete a defeat, and certainly without any reason. 
Thus has ended my campaign. We have established 
the French Republic ; which, but for us, I verily be- 
lieve, would never have been settled by such a violate, 
changeable people. I hate a Frenchman : they are 
equally objects of my detestation, whether Royalists 
or Republicans ; in some points, I believe the latter 
are the best." Nelson had a lieutenant and two 
midshipmen taken at Vado ; they told him, in their 
letter, that few of the French soldiers were more 
than three or four and tweny years old, a great many 
not more than fourteen, and all were nearly naked ; 
they were sure, they said, his barge's crew could 
have beat a hundred of them ; and that, had he him- 
self seen them, he would not have thought, if the 
7 



98 LIFE OF NELSON. 

world had been covered with such people, that they 
could have beaten the Austrian army. 

The defeat of General de Vins gave the enemy 
possession of the Genoese coast from Savona to 
Voltri ; and it deprived the Austrians of their direct 
communication with the English fleet. The " Aga- 
memnon," therefore, could no longer be useful on this 
station, and Nelson sailed for Leghorn to refit. When 
his ship went into dock, there was not a mast, yard, 
sail or any part of the rigging, but what stood in need 
of repair having been cut to pieces with shot. The 
hull was so damaged, that it had for some time been 
secured by having cables served or thrapped round. 



LIFE OF NELSON. 99 



CHAPTER IV. 



Sir John Jervis had now arrived to take the 
command of the Mediterranean fleet. The " Aga- 
memnon " having, as her captain said, been made as 
fit for sea as a rotten ship could be, Nelson sailed 
from Leghorn, and joined the admiral in Fiorenzo 
Bay. " I found him," said he, " anxious to know 
many things, which I was a good deal surprised to 
find had not been communicated to him by others in 
the fleet ; and it would appear that he was so well 
satisfied with my opinion of what is likely to happen, 
and the means of prevention to be taken, that he had 
no reserve with me respecting his information, and 
ideas of what is likely to be done." The manner in 
which Nelson was received is said to have excited 
some envy. One captain observed to him : " You 
did just as you pleased in Lord Hood's time, the same 
in Admiral Hotham's, and now again with Sir John 
Jervis: it makes no difference to you who is com- 
mander-in-chief." A higher compliment could not 
have been paid to any commander-in-chief, than to 
say of him, that he understood the merits of Nelson, 
and left him, as far as possible, to act upon his own 
judgment. 

Sir John Jervis offered him the " St. George," 90, 
or the " Zealous," 74, and asked if he should have 
any objection to serve under him with his flag. He 

L.ofC. 



ioo LIFE OF NELSON. 

replied, that if the " Agamemnon " were ordered 
home, and his flag were not arrived, he should on 
many accounts, wish to return to England ; still, if 
the war continued, he should be very proud of hoist- 
ing his flag under Sir John's command. " We cannot 
spare you," said Sir John, " either as captain or ad- 
miral." Accordingly, he resumed his station in the 
Gulf of Genoa. The French had not followed up 
their successes in that quarter with their usual celer- 
ity. Scherer, who commanded there, was one of the 
few French generals, during the Revolution, who 
owed their advancement to other causes than merit : 
he was a favourite of the Directory ; but, for the 
present, through the influence of Barras, he was re- 
moved from a command for which his incapacity was 
afterwards clearly proved, and Buonaparte was ap- 
pointed to succeed him. Buonaparte had given indi- 
cations of his military talents at Toulon, and of his 
remorseles nature at Paris ; but the extent either of 
his ability or his wickedness was at this time known 
to none, and perhaps not even suspected by himself. 
Nelson supposed, from the information which he 
had obtained, that one column of the French army 
would take possession of Port Especia, either pene- 
trating through the Genoese territory, or proceeding 
coastways in light vessels — our ships of war not being 
able to approach the coast because of the shallowness 
of the water. To prevent this, he said, two things 
were necessary, — the possession of Vado Bay, and 
the taking of Port Especia. If either of these points 
were secured, Italy would be safe from any attack of 



LIFE OF NELSON. 101 

the French by sea. General Beaulieu, who had now 
superceded De Vins in the command of the allied 
Austrian and Sardinian army, sent his nephew and 
aide-de-camp to communicate with Nelson, and in-* 
quire whether he could anchor in any other place 
than Vado Bay. Nelson replied that Vado was the 
only place where the British fleet could lie in safety ; 
but all places would suit his squadron, and wherever 
the general came down to the sea-coast, there he 
should find it. The Austrian repeatedly asked, if 
there was not a risk of losing the squadron ? and was 
constantly answered, that if these ships should be 
lost the admiral would find others. But all plans of 
cooperation with the Austrians were soon frustrated 
by the battle of Montenotte. Beaulieu ordered an 
atttck to be made upon the post of Voltri : it was 
made twelve hours before the time which he had 
fixed, and before he arrived to direct it. In conse- 
quence, the French were enabled to effect their re- 
treat, and fall back to Montenotte ; thus giving the 
troops there a decisive superiority in number over 
the division which attacked them. This drew on the 
defeat of the Austrians. Buonaparte, with a celerity 
which had never before been witnessed in modern 
war, pursued his advantages ; and, in the course of a 
fortnight, dictated to the court of Turin terms of 
peace, or rather of submission, by which all the 
strongest places of Piedmont were put into his hands. 
On one occasion, and only on one, Nelson was able 
to impede the progress of this new conqueror. Six 
vessels, laden with cannon and ordnance-stores for 



102 LIFE OF NELSON. 

the siege of Mantua, sailed from Toulon for St. Pier 
d'Arena. Assisted by Captain Cockburn, in the 
" Meleager," he drove them under a battery, pursued 
them, silenced the batteries, and captured the whole. 
Military books, plans, and maps of Italy, with the 
different points marked upon them where former 
battles had been fought, sent by the Directory for 
Buonaparte's use, were found in the convoy. The 
loss of this artillery was one of the chief causes 
which compelled the French to raise the siege of 
Mantua ; but there was too much treachery, and too 
much imbecility, both in the councils and armies of 
the allied powers, for Austria to improve this momen- 
tary success. Buonaparte perceived that the conquest 
of all Italy was within his reach : treaties, and the 
rights of neutral or of friendly powers, were as little 
regarded by him as by the Government for which he 
acted : in open contempt of both he entered Tuscany, 
and took possession of Leghorn. In consequence of 
this movement, Nelson blockaded that port, and 
landed a British force in the isle of Elba to secure 
Porto Ferrajo. Soon afterwards he took the island 
of Capraja, which had formely belonged to Corsica, 
being less than forty miles distant from it : a distance, 
however, short as it was, which enabled the Genoese 
to retain it, after their infamous sale of Corsica to 
France. Genoa had now taken part with France : 
its Government had long covertly assisted the French, 
and now willingly yielded to the first compulsory 
menace which required them to exclude the English 
from their ports. Capraja was seized, in consequence ; 



LIFE OF NELSON. 103 

but this act of vigour was not followed up as it ought 
to have been. England at that time depended too 
much upon the rotten governments of the Continent, 
and too little upon itself. It was determined by the 
British Cabinet to evacuate Corsica, as soon as Spain 
should form an offensive alliance with France. This 
event, which, from the moment that Spain had been 
compelled to make peace, was clearly foreseen, had 
now taken place ; and orders for the evacuation of 
the island were immediately sent out. It was im- 
politic to annex this island to the British dominions : 
but, having done so, it was disgraceful thus to aban- 
don it. The disgrace would have been spared, and 
every advantage which could have been derived from 
the possession of the island secured, if the people had 
at first been left to form a government for themselves, 
and protected by us in the enjoyment of their indepen- 
dence. 

The viceroy, Sir Gilbert Elliot, deeply felt the im- 
policy and ignominy of this evacuation. The fleet 
also was ordered to leave the Mediterranean. This 
resolution was so contrary to the last instructions 
which had been received, that Nelson exclaimed : 
" Do his Majesty's ministers know their own minds ? 
They at home," said he, " do not know what this 
fleet is capable of performing — anything and every- 
thing. Much as I shall rejoice to see England, I la- 
ment our present orders in sackcloth and ashes, so dis- 
honourable to the dignity of England, whose fleets 
are equal to meet the world in arms : and of all the 
fleets I ever saw, I never beheld one, in point of officers 



104 LIFE OF NELSON. 

and men, equal to Sir John Jervis's, who is a com- 
mander-in-chief able to lead them to glory." Sir 
Gilbert Elliot believed that the great body of the 
Corsicans were perfectly satisfied, as they had good 
reason to be, with the British Government, sensible 
of its advantages, and attached to it. However this 
may have been, when they found that the English 
intended to evacuate the island, they naturally and 
necessarily sent to make their peace with the French* 
The partisans of France found none to oppose them- 
A committee of thirty took upon them the govern- 
ment of Bastia, and sequestered all the British 
property : armed Corsicans mounted guard at every 
place, and a plan was laid for seizing the viceroy- 
Nelson, who was appointed to superintend the evacua" 
tion, frustrated these projects. At a time when every 
one else despaired of saving stores, cannon, provi- 
sions, or property of any kind, and a privateer was 
moored across the mole-head to prevent all boats 
from passing, he sent word to the committee, that if 
the slightest opposition were made to the embark- 
ment and removal of British property, he would 
batter the town down. The privateer pointed her 
guns at the officer who carried this message, and 
muskets were levelled against his boats from the 
mole-head. Upon this, Captain Sutton, of the " Eg- 
mont," pulling out his watch, gave them a quarter of 
an hour to deliberate upon their answer. In five 
minutes after the expiration of that time, the ships, 
he said, would open their fire. Upon this the very 
sentinels scampered off and every vessel came out 



LIFE OF NELSON. 105 

of the mole. A ship-owner complained to the com- 
modore, that the municipality refused to let him 
take his goods out of the custom-house. Nelson 
directed him to say, that unless they were instantly 
delivered, he would open his fire. The committee 
turned pale, and without answering a word, gave 
him the keys. Their last attempt was to levy 
a duty upon the things that were re-embarked. He 
sent them word that he would pay them a dis- 
agreeable visit if there were any more complaints. 
The committee then finding that they had to deal 
with a man who knew his own power, and was de- 
termined to make the British name respected, de- 
sisted from the insolent conduct which they had 
assumed : and it was acknowledged, that Bastia 
never had been so quiet and orderly since the English 
were in possession of it. This was on the 14th of 
October : during the five following days the work of 
embarkation was carried on, the private property was 
saved, and public stores to the amount of ^200,000. 
The French, favoured by the Spanish fleet, which 
was at that time within twelve leagues of Bastia, 
pushed over troops from Leghorn, who landed near 
Cape Corse on the 1 8th, and on the 20th, at one in 
the morning, entered the citadel, an hour only after 
the British had spiked the guns and evacuated it. 
Nelson embarked at daybreak, being the last person 
who left the shore ; having thus, as he said, seen the 
first and the last of Corsica. Provoked at the con- 
duct of the municipality, and the disposition which 
the populace had shown to profit by the confusion, 



106 LIFE OF NELSON. 

he turned toward the shore, as he stepped into his 
boat, and exclaimed : " Now, John Corse, follow the 
natural bent of your detestable character — plunder 
and revenge." This, however, was not Nelson's de- 
liberate opinion of the people of Corsica ; he knew that 
their voices were the natural consequences of internal 
anarchy and foreign oppression, such as the same 
causes would produce in any people : and when he 
saw, that of all those who took leave of the viceroy, 
there was not one who parted from him without tears, 
he acknowledged that they manifestly acted not from 
dislike of the English, but from fear of the French. 
England then might, with more reason, reproach her 
own rules for pusillanimity than the Corsicans for 
ingratitude. 

Having thus ably effected this humiliating service, 
Nelson was ordered to hoist his broad pendant on 
board the " Minerve" frigate, Captain George Cock- 
burn, and, with the " Blanche " under his command, 
proceed to Porto Ferrajo, and superintend the 
evacuation of that place also. On his way he fell in 
with two Spanish frigates, the " Sabina " and the 
" Ceres." The " Minerve" engaged the former, which 
was commanded by D. Jacobo Stuart, a descendant 
of the Duke of Berwick. After an action of three 
hours, during which the Spaniards lost 164 men, 
the " Sabina " struck. The Spanish captain, who 
was the only surviving officer, had hardly been con- 
veyed on board the "Minerve," when another 
enemy's frigate came up, compelled her to cast off 
the prize, and brought her a second time to action. 



LIFE OF NELSON. 107 

After half an hour's trial of strength, this new antag- 
onist wore and hauled off ; but a Spanish squadron 
of two ships of the line and two frigates came in 
sight. The "Blanche," from which the "Ceres" 
had got off, was far to windward, and the " Minerve" 
escaped only by the anxiety of the enemy to recover 
their own ship. As soon as Nelson reached Porto 
Ferrajo, he sent his prisoner in a flag of truce to 
Carthagena, having returned him his sword ; this lie 
did in honour of the gallantry which D. Jacobo had 
displayed, and not without some feeling of respect for 
his ancestry. "I felt it," said he, "consonant to the 
dignity of my country, and I always act as I feel 
right, without regard to custom : he was reputed the 
best officer in Spain, and his men were worthy of 
such a commander." By the same flag of truce he 
sent back all the Spanish prisoners at Porto Ferrajo ; 
in exchange for whom he received his own men who 
had been taken in the prize. 

General de Burgh, who commanded at the isle of 
Elba, did not think himself authorised to abandon the 
place, till he had received specific instructions from 
England to that effect, professing that he was unable 
to decide between the contradictory orders of Govern- 
ment, or to guess at what their present intentions 
might be ; but he said, his only motive for urging 
delay in this measure arose from a desire that his own 
conduct might be properly sanctioned — not from any 
opinion that Porto Ferrajo ought to be retained. But 
Naples having made peace, Sir J. Jervis considered 
his business with Italy as concluded; and theprotec- 



108 LIFE OF NELSON. 

tion of Portugal was the point to which he was now 
instructed to attend. Nelson, therefore, whose 
orders were perfectly clear and explicit, withdrew the 
whole naval establishment from that station, leaving 
the transports victualled, and so arranged, that all 
the troops and stores could be embarked in three 
days. He was now about to leave the Mediterranean. 
Mr. Drake, who had been our minister at Genoa, ex- 
pressed to him, on this occasion, the very high opin- 
ion which the allies entertained of his conspicuous 
merit ; adding, that it was impossible for any one, 
who had the honour of co-operating with him, not to 
admire the activity, talents, and zeal, which he had 
so eminently and constantly displayed. In fact, 
during this long course of services in the Mediter- 
ranean, the whole of his conduct had exhibited the 
same zeal, the same indefatigable energy, the same 
intuitive judgment, the same prompt and unerring 
decision, which characterised his after-career of glory. 
His name was as yet hardly known to the English 
public ; but it was feared and respected throughout 
Italy. A letter came to him, directed " Horatio 
Nelson, Genoa ; " and the writer, when he was asked 
how he could direct it so vaguely, replied, " Sir, there 
is but one Horatio Nelson in the world." At Genoa, 
in particular, where he had so long been stationed, 
and where the nature of his duty first led him to con- 
tinual disputes with the Government, and afterwards 
compelled him to stop the trade of the port, he was 
equally respected by the Doge and by the people ; 
for, while he maintained the rights and interests oi 



LIFE OF NELSON. 109 

Great Britain with becoming firmness, he tempered 
the exercise of power with courtesy and humanity, 
wherever duty would permit. " Had all my actions," 
said he, writing at this time to his wife, " been 
gazetted, not one fortnight would have passed, during 
the whole war, without a letter from me. One day 
or other I will have a long gazette to myself. I feel 
that such an opportunity will be given me. I cannot, 
if I am in the field of glory, be kept out of sight : 
wherever there is anything to be done, there Provi- 
dence is sure to direct my steps." 

These hopes and anticipations were soon to be ful- 
filled. Nelson's mind had long been irritated and 
depressed by the fear that a general action would 
take place before he could join the fleet. At length 
he sailed from Porto Ferrajo with a convoy for 
Gibraltar ; and having reached that place, proceeded 
to the westward in search of the admiral. Off the 
mouth of the Straits he fell in with the Spanish fleet ; 
and on the 13th of February, reaching the station off 
Cape St. Vincent's, communicated this intelligence to 
Sir John Jervis. He was now directed to shift his 
broad pendant on board the " Captain," 74, Captain 
R. W. Miller; and, before sunset, the signal was 
made to prepare for action, and to keep, during the 
night, in close order. At daybreak the enemy were 
in sight. The British force consisted of two ships of 
100 guns, two of 98, two of 90, eight of 74, and one 
64 — fifteen of the line in all, with four frigates, a 
sloop, and a cutter. The Spaniards had one four- 
decker, of 136 guns ; six three-deckers, of 112; two 



no LIFE OF NELSON. 

84s ; eighteen 74s — in all, twenty-seven ships of the 
line, with ten frigates and a brig. Their admiral, D. 
Joseph de Cordova, had learnt from an American, on 
the 5th, that the English had only nine ships which 
was indeed the case when his informer had seen 
them ; for a reinforcement of five ships from England, 
under Admiral Parker, had not then joined, and the 
" Culloden " had parted company. Upon this inform- 
ation, the Spanish commander, instead of going into 
Cadiz, as was his intention when he sailed from 
Carthagena, determined to seek an enemy so inferior 
in force ; and relying, with fatal confidence, upon the 
American account, he suffered his ships to remain 
too far dispersed, and in some disorder. When the 
morning of the 14th broke, and discovered the 
English fleet, a fog for some time concealed their 
number. The look-out ship of the Spaniards fancy- 
ing that her signal was disregarded, because so little 
notice seemed to be taken of it, made another signal, 
that the English force consisted of forty sail of the 
line. The captain afterwards said he did this to rouse 
the admiral : it had the effect of perplexing him, and 
alarming the whole fleet. The absurdity of such an 
act shows what was the state of the Spanish navy 
under that miserable government by which Spain 
was so long oppressed and degraded, and finally be- 
trayed. In reality, the general incapacity of the 
naval officers was so well known, that in a pasquin- 
ade, which about this time appeared at Madrid, 
wherein the different orders of the state were adver- 
tised for sale, the greater part of the sea officers, with 



LIFE OF NELSON. 1 1 1 

all their equipments, were offered as a gift ; and it 
was added that any person who would please to take 
them should receive a handsome gratuity. 

Before the enemy could form a regular order of 
battle, Sir J. Jervis, by carrying a press of sail, came up 
with them, passed through their fleet, then tacked, 
and thus cut off by nine of their ships from the main 
body. These ships attempted to form on the lar- 
board tack, either with a design of passing through 
the British line, or to leeward of it, and thus rejoin- 
ing their friends. Only one of them succeeded in this 
attempt ; and that only because she was so covered 
with smoke, that her intention was not discovered till 
she had reached the rear: the others were so warmly 
received that they put about, took to flight, and did not 
appear again in the action till its close. The admiral 
was now able to direct his attention to the enemy's 
main body, which was still superior in number to his 
whole fleet, and more so in weight of metal. He 
made signal to tack in succession. Nelson, whose 
station was in the rear of the British line, perceived 
that the Spaniards were bearing up before the wind, 
with an intention of forming their line, going large, 
and joining their separated ships ; or else, of getting 
off without an engagement. To prevent either of 
these schemes, he disobeyed the signal without a 
moment's hesitation, and ordered his ship to be wore. 
This at once brought him into action with the 
" Santissima Trinidad," 136, the " San Joseph," 112, 
the "Salvador del Mundo," 112, the "St. Nicolas," 
80, the " San Isidro," 74, another 74, and another 



1 1 2 LIFE OF NELSON. 

first-rate. Trowbridge, in the "Culloden," im- 
mediately joined, and most nobly supported him ; 
and for nearly an hour did the " Culloden " and 
11 Captain " maintain what Nelson called " this ap- 
parently, but not really, unequaled contest ; " — such 
was the advantage of skill and discipline, and the 
confidence which brave men derive from them. The 
" Blenheim " then passing between them and the 
enemy, gave them a respite, and poured in her fire 
upon the Spaniards. The " Salvador del Mundo " 
and ** S. Isidro " dropped astern, and were fired into, 
in a masterly style, by the " Excellent," Captain 
Collingwood. The " S. Isidro " struck; and Nelson 
thought that the " Salvador " struck also : " But 
Collingwood," says he, "disdaining the parade of 
taking possession of beaten enemies, most gallantly 
pushed up, with every sail set, to save his old friend 
and messmate, who was, to appearance, in a critical 
situation; "for the "Captain " was at this time act- 
ually fired upon by three first-rates, by the " S. 
Nicolas," and by a 74, within about pistol-shot of that 
vessel. The " Blenheim " was ahead, the " Cullo- 
den " crippled and astern. Collingwood ranged up 
and hauling up his mainsail just astern, passed with- 
in ten feet of the " S. Nicolas," giving her a most 
tremendous fire, then passed on for the " Santissima 
Trinidad." The " S. Nicolas " luffing up, the " S. 
Joseph " fell on board her, and Nelson resumed his 
station abreast of them, and close alongside. The 
11 Captain " was now incapable of farther service, 
either in the line or in chase : she had lost her fore- 



LIFE OF NELSON. 113 

topmast ; not a sail, shroud, or rope was left, and 
her wheel was shot away. Nelson, therefore, directed 
Captain Miller to put the helm a-starboard, and, 
calling for the boarders, ordered them to board. 

Captain Berry, who had lately been Nelson's first 
lieutenant, was the first man who leaped into the 
enemy's mizen-chains. Miller, when in the very act 
of going, was ordered by Nelson to remain. Berry 
was supported from the sprit-sailyard, which locked 
in the " S. Nicolas's " main rigging. A soldier of the 
69th broke the upper quarter-gallery window, and 
jumped in, followed by the commodore himself, and 
by others as fast as possible. The cabin doors were 
fastened, and the Spanish officers fired their pistols 
at them through the window : the doors were soon 
forced, and the Spanish brigadier fell while retreating 
to the quarter-deck. Nelson pushed on, and found 
Berry in possession of the poop, and the Spanish 
ensign hauling down. He passed on to the forecastle, 
where he met two or three Spanish officers, and re- 
ceived their swords. The English were now in full 
possession of every part of the ship ; and a fire of pistols 
and musketry opened upon them from the admiral's 
stern gallery of the " San Joseph." Nelson having 
placed sentinels at the different ladders, and ordered 
Captain Miller to send more men into the prize, gave 
orders for boarding that ship from the " San Nicolas." 
It was done in an instant, he himself leading the way, 
and exclaiming — " Westminster Abbey, or victory ! " 
Berry assisted him into the main-chains ; and at that 
moment a Spanish officer looked over the quarter- 
8 



ii4 LIFE OF NELSON. 

deckrail, and said they surrendered. It was not long 
before he was on the quarter-deck, where the Span- 
ish captain presented to him his sword, and told him 
the admiral was below, dying of his wounds. There, 
on the quarter-deck of an enemy's first-rate, he re- 
ceived the swords of the officers ; giving them, as they 
were delivered, one by one, to William Fearney, one 
of his old " Agamemnon's," who, with the utmost 
coolness, put them under his arm. One of his sailors 
came up, and, with an Englishman's feeling, took 
him by the hand, saying, he might not soon have such 
another place to do it in, and he was heartily glad to 
see him there. Twenty-four of the " Captain's " 
men were killed, and fifty-six wounded ; a fourth 
part of the loss sustained by the whole squadron 
falling upon this ship. Nelson received only a few 
bruises. 

The Spaniards had still eighteen or nineteen ships, 
which had suffered little or no injury : that part of 
the fleet which had been separated from the main 
body in the morning was now coming up, and Sir 
John Jervis made signal to bring to. His ships could 
not have formed without abandoning those which they 
had captured, and running to leeward : the " Captain " 
was lying a perfect wreck on board her two prizes, 
and many of the other vessels were so shattered in 
their masts and rigging as to be wholly unmanage- 
able. The Spanish admiral meantime, according to 
his official account, being altogether undecided in 
his own opinion respecting the state of the fleet, in- 
quired of his captains whether it was proper to renew 



LIFE OF NELSON. 1 1 5 

the action : nine of them answered explicitly that it 
was not ; others replied, that it was expedient to delay 
the business. The " Pelayo " and the " Principe 
Conquistador " were the only ships that were for 
fighting. 

As soon as the action was discontinued, Nelson 
went on board the admiral's ship. Sir John Jervis 
received him on the quarter-deck, took him in his 
arms, and said he could not sufficiently thank him. 
For this victory the commander-in-chief was rewarded 
with the title of Earl St. Vincent.* Nelson, who, 

* In the official letter of Sir John Jervis, Nelson was not mentioned. 
It is said, that the admiral had seen an instance of the ill consequence 
of such selections after Lord Howe's victory, and, therefore, would 
not name any individual, thinking it proper to speak to the public 
only in terms of general approbation. His private letter to the First 
Lord of the Admiralty was, with his consent, published, for the first 
time, in a Life of Nelson, by Mr. Harrison. Here it is said that 
" Commodore Nelson, who was in the rear, on the starboard tack, 
took the lead on the larboard, and contributed very much to the for- 
tune of the day." It is also said that he boarded the two Spanish 
ships successively; but the fact that Nelson wore without orders, and 
thus planned as well as accomplished the victory, is not explicitly 
stated. Perhaps it was thought proper to pass over this part of his 
conduct in silence, as a splendid fault ; but such an example is not 
dangerous. The author of the work in which this letter was first 
made public protests against those over-zealous friends, " who would 
make the action rather appear as Nelson's battle, than that of the 
illustrious commander-in-chief, who derives from it so deservedly 
his title. No man," he says, "ever less needed, or less desired, to 
strip a single leaf from the honoured wreath of any other hero, with 
the vain hope of augmenting his own, than the immortal Nelson ; no 
man ever more merited the whole of that which a generous nation 
unanimously presented to Sir J. Jervis, than the Earl of St. Vincent." 
— Certainly Earl St. Vincent well deserved the reward which he re- 
ceived ; but it is not detracting from his merit to say, that Nelson is 



n6 LIFE OF NELSON. 

before the action was known in England, had been 
advanced to the rank of rear-admiral, had the Order 
of the Bath given him. The sword of the Spanish 
rear-admiral, which Sir John Jervis insisted upon his 
keeping, he presented to the mayor and corporation 
of Norwich, saying, that he knew no place where it 
could give him or his family more pleasure to have 
it kept, than in the capital city of the county where 
he was born. The freedom of that city was voted 
him on this occasion. But of all the numerous con- 
gratulations which he received, none could have 
affected him with deeper delight than that which 
came from his venerable father. " I thank my God," 
said this excellent man, " with all the power of a 
grateful soul, for the mercies He has most graciously 
bestowed on me in preserving you. Not only my 
few acquaintance here, but the people in general, met 
me at every corner with such handsome words, that 
I was obliged to retire from the public eye. The 
height of glory to which your professional judgment, 
united with a proper degree of bravery, guarded by 

fully entitled to as much fame from this action as the commander-in- 
chief ; not because the brunt of the action fell upon him ; not because 
he was engaged with all the four ships which were taken, and took 
two of them, it may almost be said, with his own hand ; but because 
the decisive movement, which enabled him to perform all this, and by 
which the action became a victory, was executed in neglect of orders, 
upon his own judgment, and at his peril. Earl St. Vincent deserved 
his earldom ; but it is not to the honour of those, by whom titles were 
distributed in those days, that Nelson never obtained the rank of earl 
for either of those victories which he lived to enjoy, though the one 
was the most complete and glorious in the annals of naval history, 
and the other the most important in its consequences of any which 
was achieved during the whole war. 






LIFE OF NELSON. 1 1 7 

Providence, has raised you, few sons, my dear child, 
attain to, and fewer fathers live to see. Tears of joy 
have involuntarily trickled down my furrowed cheeks : 
who could stand the force of such general congratu- 
lation ? The name and services of Nelson have 
sounded throughout this city of Bath — from the com- 
mon ballad singer to the public theatre." The good 
old man concluded by telling him that the field of 
glory, in which he had so long been conspicuous, was 
still open, and by giving him his blessing. 

Sir Horatio, who had now hoisted his flag as rear- 
admiral of the blue, was sent to bring away the troops 
from Porto Ferrajo : having performed this, he shifted 
his flag to the " Theseus." That ship had taken part 
in the mutiny in England, and being just arrived from 
home, some danger was apprehended from the tem- 
per of the men. This was one reason why Nelson 
was removed to her. He had not been on board 
many weeks before a paper, signed in the name of 
all the ship's company, was dropped on the quarter- 
deck, containing these words : " Success attend Ad- 
miral Nelson ! God bless Captain Miller ! We thank 
them for the officers they have placed over us. We 
are happy and comfortable ; and will shed every drop 
of blood in our veins to support them ; — and the name 
of the "Theseus" shall be immortalised as high as 
her captain's." Wherever Nelson commanded, the 
men soon became attached to him ; — in ten days' 
time he would have restored the most mutinous ship 
in the navy to order. Whenever an officer fails to 
win the affections of those who are under his com- 



1 1 8 LIFE OF NELSON. 

mand, he may be assured that the fault is chiefly in 
himself. 

While Sir Horatio was in the " Theseus," he was 
employed in the command of the inner squadron at 
the blockade of Cadiz. During this service the most 
perilous action occurred in which he was ever en- 
gaged. Making a night attack upon the Spanish 
gun-boats, his barge was attacked by an armed 
launch, under their commander, D. Miguel Tregoyen, 
carrying twenty-six men. Nelson had with him only 
his ten barge-men, Captain Freemantle, and his 
coxswain, John Sykes, an old and faithful follower, 
who twice saved the life of his admiral, by parrying 
the blows that were aimed at him, and at last actually 
interposed his own head to receive the blow of a 
Spanish sabre, which he could not by any other means 
avert ; — thus dearly was Nelson beloved. This was 
a desperate service — hand to hand with swords : and 
Nelson always considered that his personal courage 
was more conspicuous on this occasion than on any 
other during his whole life. Notwithstanding the 
great disproportion of numbers, eighteen of the enemy 
were killed, all the rest wounded, and their launch 
taken. Nelson would have asked for a lieutenancy 
for Sykes, if he had served long enough : his manner 
and conduct, he observed, were so entirely above his 
situation, that Nature certainly intended him for a 
gentleman : but though he recovered from the dan- 
gerous wound which he received in this act of heroic 
attachment, he did not live to profit by the gratitude 
and friendship of his commander. 






LIFE OF NELSON. 119 

Twelve days after this rencontre, Nelson sailed at 
the head of an expedition against Teneriffe. A re- 
port had prevailed a few months before, that the 
viceroy of Mexico, with the treasure-ships, had put 
into that island. This had led Nelson to meditate 
the plan of an attack upon it, which he communicated 
to Earl St. Vincent. He was perfectly aware of the 
difficulties of the attempt. " I do not," said he, 
" reckon myself equal to Blake ; but, if I recollect 
right, he was more obliged to the wind coming off 
the land, than to any exertions of his own. The 
approach by sea to the anchoring place is under very 
high land, passing three valleys ; therefore the wind 
is either in from the sea, or squally with calms from 
the mountains : " and he perceived, that if the Span- 
ish ships were won, the object would still be frus- 
trated if the wind did not come off shore. The land 
force, he thought, would render success certain ; and 
there were the troops from Elba, with all necessary 
stores and artillery, already embarked. " But here," 
said he, " soldiers must be consulted ; and I know, 
from experience, they have not the same boldness in 
undertaking a political measure that we have : we 
look to the benefit of our country, and risk our own 
fame every day to serve her ; — a soldier obeys his 
orders, and no more." Nelson's experience at Cor- 
sica justified him in this harsh opinion ; — he did not 
live to see the glorious days of the British army 
under Wellington. The army from Elba, consisting 
of 3700 men, would do the business, he said, in three 
days, probably in much less time ; and he would un- 



120 LIFE OF NELSON. 

dertake, with a very small squadron, to perform the 
naval part ; for though the shore was not easy of 
access, the transports might run in and land the 
troops in one day. 

The report concerning the viceroy was unfounded, 
but a homeward-bound Manilla ship put into Santa 
Cruz at this time, and the expedition was determined 
upon. It was not fitted out upon the scale which 
Nelson had proposed. Four ships of the line, three 
frigates, and the " Fox " cutter, formed the squadron ; 
and he was allowed to choose such ships and officers 
as he thought proper. No troops were embarked, 
the seamen and marines of the squadron being 
thought sufficient. His orders were to make a vigor- 
ous attack, but on no account to land in person, un- 
less his presence should be absolutely necessary. 
The plan was, that the boats should land in the 
night, between the fort on the N. E. side of Santa 
Cruz bay and the town, make themselves masters of 
that fort, and then send a summons to the governor. 
By midnight, the three frigates, having the force on 
board which was intended for this debarkation, ap- 
proached within three miles of the place ; but, owing 
to a strong gale of wind in the offing, and a strong 
current against them inshore, they were not able to 
get within a mile of the landing place before day- 
break; and then they were seen, and their intention 
discovered. Trowbridge and Bowen, with Captain 
Oldfield, of the marines, went upon this to consult 
with the admiral what was to be done ; and it was 
resolved that they should attempt to get possession 



LIFE OF NELSON. 121 

of the heights above the fort. The frigates accord- 
ingly landed their men ; and Nelson stood in with 
the line-of-battle ships, meaning to batter the fort, 
for the purpose of distracting the attention of the 
garrison. A calm and contrary current hindered 
him from getting within a league of the shore ; and 
the heights were by this time so secured, and manned 
with such a force, as to be judged impracticable. 
Thus foiled in his plans by circumstances of wind 
and tide, he still considered it a point of honour that 
some attempt should be made. This was on the 
22nd of July : he re-embarked his men that night, 
got the ships, on the 24th, to anchor about two miles 
north of the town, and made show as if he intended 
to attack the heights. At six in the evening signal 
was made for the boats to prepare to proceed on 
service as previously ordered. 

When this was done, Nelson addressed a letter to 
the commander-in-chief — the last which was ever 
written with his right hand. " I shall not," said he, 
" enter on the subject, why we are not in possession 
of Santa Cruz. Your partiality will give credit that 
all has hitherto been done which was possible ; but 
without effect. This night I, humble as I am, com- 
mand the whole, destined to land under the batteries 
of the town ; and to-morrow my head will probably 
be crowned either with laurel or cypress. I have 
only to recommend Josiah Nisbet to you and my 
country. The Duke of Clarence, should I fall, will, I 
am confident, take a lively interest for my son-in- 
law, on his name being mentioned." Perfectly aware 



122 LIFE OF NELSON. 

how desperate a service this was likely to prove, 
before he left the " Theseus " he called Lieutenant 
Nisbet, who had the watch on deck, into the cabin, 
that he might assist in arranging and burning his 
mother's letters. Perceiving that the young man 
was armed, he earnestly begged him to remain be- 
hind. " Should we both fall, Josiah," said he, " what 
would become of your poor mother ? The care of 
the ' Theseus ' falls to you : stay, therefore, and take 
charge of her." Nisbet replied : " Sir, the ship must 
take care of herself ; I will go with you to-night, if I 
never go again." 

He met his captains at supper on board the " Sea- 
horse," Captain Freemantle, whose wife, whom he 
had lately married in the Mediterranean, presided at 
table. At eleven o'clock the boats, containing be- 
tween 600 and 700 men, with 180 on board the 
" Fox " cutter, and from 70 to 80 in a boat which 
had been taken the day before, proceeded in six 
divisions toward the town, conducted by all the cap- 
tains of the squadron, except Freemantle and 
Bowen, who attended with Nelson to regulate and 
lead the way to the attack. They were to land on 
the mole, and thence hasten, as fast as possible, into 
the great square ; then form, and proceed, as should 
be found expedient. They were not discovered till 
about half-past one o'clock, when, being within half 
gun-shot of the landing place, Nelson directed the 
boats to cast off from each other, give a huzza, and 
push for the shore. But the Spaniards were ex- 
cellently well prepared : the alarm-bells answered 



LIFE OF NELSON. 123 

the huzza, and a fire of thirty or forty pieces of can- 
non, with musketry from one end of the town to the 
other, opened upon the invaders. Nothing, however, 
could check the intrepidity with which they advanced. 
The night was exceedingly dark ; most of the boats 
missed the mole, and went on shore through a 
raging surf, which stove all to the left of it. The 
Admiral, Freemantle, Thompson, Bowen, and four 
or five other boats, found the mole : they stormed it 
instantly, and carried it, though it was defended, as 
they imagined, by four or five hundred men. Its 
guns, which were six-and-twenty pounders, were 
spiked ; but such a heavy fire of musketry and grape 
was kept up from the citadel and the houses at the 
head of the mole, that the assailants could not 
advance, and nearly all of them were killed or 
wounded. 

In the act of stepping out of the boat, Nelson 
received a shot through the right elbow, and fell ; 
but, as he fell he caught the sword, which he had 
just drawn, in his left hand, determined never to part 
with it while he lived, for it had belonged to his 
uncle, Captain Suckling, and he valued it like a relic. 
Nisbet, who was close to him, placed him at the 
bottom of the boat, and laid his hat over the shat- 
tered arm, lest the sight of the blood, which gushed 
out in great abundance, should increase his faintness. 
He then examined the wound, and taking some silk 
handkerchiefs from his neck, bound them round 
tight above the lacerated vessels. Had it not been 
for this presence of mind in his son-in-law, Nelson 



124 LIFE OF NELSON. 

must have perished. One of his bargemen, by name 
Lovel, tore his shirt into shreds, and made a sling 
with them for the broken limb. They then collected 
five other seamen, by whose assistance they suc- 
ceeded, at length, in getting the boat afloat ; for it 
had grounded with the falling tide. Nisbet took 
one of the oars, and ordered the steersman to go 
close under the guns of the battery, that they might 
be safe from its tremendous fire. Hearing his voice, 
Nelson roused himself, and desired to be lifted up in 
the boat, that he might look about him. Nisbet 
raised him up ; but nothing could be seen except the 
firing of the guns on shore, and what could be dis- 
cerned by their flashes upon the stormy sea. In a 
few minutes, a general shriek was heard from the 
crew of the "Fox," which had received a shot under 
water, and went down. Ninety-seven men were lost 
in her ; eighty-three were saved, many by Nelson 
himself, whose exertions on this occasion greatly 
increased the pain and danger of his wound. The 
first ship which the boat could reach happened to be 
the " Seahorse ; " but nothing could induce him to go 
on board, though he was assured, that if they 
attempted to row to another ship, it might be at the 
risk of his life. " I had rather suffer death," he re- 
plied, " than alarm Mrs/ Freemantle, by letting her 
see me in this state, when I can give her no tidings 
whatever of her husband." They pushed on for the 
" Theseus." When they came alongside, he per- 
emptorily refused all assistance in getting on board, 
so impatient was he that the boat should return, in 



LIFE OF NELSON. 12$ 

hopes that it might save a few more from the " Fox." 
He desired to have only a single rope thrown over 
the side, which he twisted round his left hand, say- 
ing, " Let me alone : I have yet my legs left, and one 
arm. Tell the surgeon to make haste, and get his 
instruments. I know I must lose my right arm ; so 
the sooner it is off the better." * The spirit which 
he displayed in jumping up the ship's side astonished 
everybody. 

Freemantle had been severely wounded in the 
right arm, soon after the admiral. He was fortunate 
enough to find a boat at the beach, and got instantly 
to his ship. Thompson was wounded ; Bowen killed, 
to the great regret of Nelson ; as was also one of his 
own officers, Lieutenant Weatherhead, who had fol- 
lowed him from the "Agamemnon," and whom he 
greatly and deservedly esteemed. Trowbridge, 
meantime, fortunately for his party, missed the mole 
in the darkness, but pushed on shore under the bat- 
teries, close to the south end of the citadel. Captain 
Waller, of the " Emerald," and two or three other 
boats, landed at the same time. The surf was so 
high, that many others put back. The boats were 
instantly filled with water, and stove against the 

* During the peace of Amiens, when Nelson was passing through 
Salisbury, and received there with those acclamations which followed 
him everywhere, he recognised, amid the crowd, a man who had 
assisted at the amputation, and attended him afterwards. He beckoned 
hiin up the stairs of the Council House, shook hands with him, and 
made him a present, in remembrance of his services at that time. 
The man took from his bosom a piece of lace, which he had torn from 
the sleeve of the amputated limb, saying, he had preserved, and would 
preserve it to the last moment, in memory of his old commander. 



126 LIFE OF NELSON. 

rocks; and most of the ammunition in the men's 
pouches was wetted. Having collected a few men, 
they pushed on to the great square, hoping there to 
find the admiral and the rest of the force. The lad- 
ders were all lost, so that they could make no im- 
mediate attempt on the citadel ; but they sent a 
sergeant, with two of the town's people, to summon 
it ; this messenger never returned ; and Trowbridge 
having waited about an hour, in painful expectation 
of his friends, marched to join Captains Hood and 
Miller, who had effected their landing to the south- 
west. They then endeavoured to procure some 
intelligence of the admiral and the rest of the officers, 
but without success. By daybreak they had gathered 
together about 80 marines, 80 pikemen, and 180 small- 
arm seamen ; all the survivors of those who had made 
good their landing. They obtained some ammunition 
from the prisoners whom they had taken ; and 
marched on, to try what could be done at the citadel 
without ladders. They found all the streets com- 
manded by field-pieces, and several thousand Span- 
iards, with about a hundred French, under arms, ap- 
proaching by every avenue. Finding himself with- 
out provisions, their powder wet, and no possibility 
of obtaining either stores or reinforcements from the 
ships, the boats being lost, Trowbridge, with great 
presence of mind, sent Captain Samuel Hood with a 
flag of truce to the governor, to say he was prepared 
to burn the town, and would instantly set fire to it if 
the Spaniards approached one inch nearer. This, 
however, if he were compelled to do it, he should do 



LIFE OF NELSON. 127 

with regret, for he had no wish to injure the inhabit- 
ants ; and he was ready to treat upon these terms, — 
that the British troops should re-embark, with all their 
arms of every kind, and take their own boats, if they 
were saved, or be provided with such others as might 
be wanting : they, on their part, engaging that the 
squadron should not molest the town, nor any of the 
Canary Islands ; all prisoners on both sides to be 
given up. When these terms were proposed, the gov- 
ernor made answer that the English ought to sur- 
render as prisoners of war ; but Captain Hood replied, 
he was instructed to say, that if the terms were not 
accepted in five minutes, Captain Trowbridge would 
set the town on fire, and attack the Spaniards at the 
point of the bayonet. Satisfied with his success, 
which was indeed sufficiently complete, and respect- 
ing, like a brave and honourable man, the gallantry 
of his enemy, the Spaniard acceded to the proposal. 
"And here," says Nelson in his journal, " it is right 
we should notice the noble and generous conduct of 
Don Juan Antonio Gutierrez, the Spanish governor. 
The moment the terms were agreed to, he directed 
our wounded men to be received into the hospitals, 
and all our people to be supplied with the best pro- 
visions that could be procured ; and made it known 
that the ships were at liberty to send on shore, and 
purchase whatever refreshments they were in want 
of, during the time they might be off the island." A 
youth, by name Don Bernardo Collagon, stripped him- 
self of his shirt, to make bandages for one of those 
Englishmen, against whom, not an hour before, he 



128 LIFE OF NELSON. 

had been engaged in battle. Nelson wrote to thank 
the governor for the humanity which he had displayed. 
Presents were interchanged between them. Sir 
Horatio offered to take charge of his despatches for 
the Spanish Government ; and thus actually became 
the first messenger to Spain of his own defeat. 

The total loss of the English, in killed, wounded, 
and drowned, amounted to 250. Nelson made no 
mention of his own wound in his official despatches : 
but in a private letter to Lord St. Vincent — the first 
which he wrote with his left-hand — he shows himself 
to have been deeply affected by the failure of this 
enterprise. " I am become," he said, " a burthen to 
my friends, and useless to my country : but by my last 
letter you will perceive my anxiety for the promotion 
of my son-in-law, Josiah Nisbet. When I leave your 
command, I become dead to the world : — ' I go hence, 
and am no more seen.' If from poor Bowen's loss 
you think it proper to oblige me, I rest confident you 
will do it. The boy is under obligations to me ; but 
he repaid me by bringing me from the mole of Santa 
Cruz. I hope you will be able to give me a frigate, 
to convey the remains of my carcass to England." — 
" A left-handed admiral," he said in a subsequent 
letter, " will never again be considered as useful ; 
therefore the sooner I get to a very humble cottage 
the better ; and make room for a sounder man to 
serve the state." His first letter to Lady Nelson was 
written under the same opinion, but in a more cheer- 
ful strain. " It was the chance of war," said he, 
"and I have great reason to be thankful : and I know 



LIFE OF NELSON. 129 

it will add much to your pleasure to find, that Josiah, 
under God's providence, was principally instrumental 
in saving my life. I shall not be surprised if I am 
neglected and forgotten : probably I shall no longer 
be considered as useful ; however, I shall feel rich if 
I continue to enjoy your affection. I beg neither you 
nor my father will think much of this mishap — my 
mind has long been made up to such an event." 

His son-in-law, according to his wish, was imme- 
diately promoted ; and honours enough to heal his 
wounded spirit awaited him in England. Letters 
were addressed to him by the First Lord of the Admir- 
alty, and by his steady friend, the Duke of Clarence, 
to congratulate him on his return, covered as he was 
with glory. He assured the duke, in his reply, that 
not a scrap of that ardour with which he had hitherto 
served his king had been shot away. The freedom 
of the cities of Bristol and London were transmitted 
to him ; he was invested with the Order of the Bath, 
and received a pension of ^1000 a year. The mem- 
orial which, as a matter of form, he was called upon 
to present on this occasion, exhibited an extraordinary 
catalogue of services performed during the war. It 
stated that he had been in four actions with the fleets 
of the enemy, and in three actions with boats employed 
in cutting out of harbour, in destroying vessels, and 
in taking three towns : he had served on shore with 
the army four months, and commanded the batteries 
at the sieges of Bastia and Calvi ; he had assisted at 
the capture of seven sail of the line, six frigates, four 
corvettes, and eleven privateers ; taken and destroyed 
9 



130 LIFE OF NELSON. 

near fifty sail of merchant vessels ; and actually been 
engaged against the enemy upwards of an hundred 
and twenty times ; in which service he had lost his 
right eye and right arm, and been severely wounded 
and bruised in his body. 

His sufferings from the lost limb were long and 
painful. A nerve had been taken up in one of the 
ligatures at the time of the operation ; and the liga- 
ture, according to the practice of the French surgeons, 
was of silk, instead of waxed thread ; this produced a 
constant irritation and discharge ; and the ends of the 
ligature being pulled every day, in hopes of bringing 
it away occasioned fresh agony. He had scarcely any 
intermission of pain, day or night, for three months 
after his return to England. Lady Nelson, at his ear- 
nest request, attended the dressing his arm till she had 
acquired sufficient resolution and skill to dress it her- 
self. One night, during this state of suffering, after 
a day of constant pain, Nelson retired, early to bed, 
in hope of enjoying some respite by means of lauda- 
num. He was at that time lodging in Bond Street ; 
and the family was soon disturbed by a mob knock- 
ing loudly and violently at the door. The news of 
Duncan's victory had been made public, and the 
house was not illuminated. But when the mob were 
told that Admiral Nelson lay there in bed, badly 
wounded, the foremost of them made answer ; " You 
shall hear no more from us to-night : " and, in fact, 
the feeling of respect and sympathy was communi 
cated from one to another with such effect, that, under 
the confusion of such a night, the house was not 
molested again. 



LIFE OF NELSON. 131 

About the end of November, after a night of sound 
sleep, he found the arm nearly free from pain : the 
surgeon was immediately sent for to examine it, and 
the ligature came away with the slightest touch. 
From that time it began to heal. As soon as he 
thought his health established, he sent the following 
form of thanksgiving to the minister of St. George's, 
Hanover Square : — " An officer desires to return 
thanks to Almighty God for his perfect recovery from 
a severe wound, and also for the many mercies be- 
stowed on him." 

Not having been in England till now since he lost 
his eye, he went to receive a year's pay, as smart 
money ; but could not obtain payment, because he 
had neglected to bring a certificate from a surgeon 
that the sight was actually destroyed. A little irri- 
tated that this form should be insisted upon, because, 
though the fact was not apparent, he thought it was 
sufficiently notorious, he procured a certificate at the 
same time for the loss of his arm, saying, they might 
just as well doubt the one as the other. This put him 
in good humour with himself, and with the clerk who 
had offended him. On his return to the office, the 
clerk finding it was only the annual pay of a captain, 
observed, he thought it had been more. " Oh ! " re- 
plied Nelson, " this is only for an eye. In a few days 
I shall come for an arm ; and in a little time longer, 
God knows, most probably for a leg." Accordingly, 
he soon afterwards went, and with perfect good 
humour exhibited the certificate of the loss of his arm. 



132 LIFE OF NELSON. 



CHAPTER V. 

Early in the year 1798, Sir Horatio Nelson hoist- 
ed his flag in the " Vanguard," and was ordered to re- 
join Earl St. Vincent. Upon his departure, his father 
addressed him with that affectionate solemnity by 
which all his letters were distinguished. " I trust in the 
Lord," said he, " that He will prosper your going out 
and your coming in. I earnestly desired once more to 
see you, and that wish has been heard. If I should 
presume to say, I hope to see you again, the question 
would be readily asked, How old art thou? Vale ! 
vale! Domine vale /" It is said that a gloomy fore- 
boding hung on the spirits of Lady Nelson at their 
parting. This could have arisen only from the dread 
of losing him by the chance of war. Any apprehen- 
sion of losing his affections could hardly have ex- 
isted ; for all his correspondence to this time shows 
that he thought himself happy in his marriage ; and 
his private character had hitherto been as spotless as 
his public conduct. One of the last things he said to 
her was that his own ambition was satisfied, but that 
he went to raise her to that rank in which he had 
long wished to see her. 

Immediately on his rejoining the fleet, he was des- 
patched to the Mediterranean, with a small squadron, 
in order to ascertain, if possible, the object of the 



LIFE OF NELSON. 133 

great expedition which at that time was fitting out, 
under Buonaparte, at Toulon. The defeat of this 
armament, whatever might be its destination, was 
deemed by the British Government an object para- 
mount to every other ; and Earl St. Vincent was 
directed, if he thought it necessary, to taka his whole 
force into the Mediterranean, to relinquish, for that 
purpose, the blockade of the Spanish fleet, as a thing 
of inferior moment : but, if he should deem a detach- 
ment sufficient, " I think it almost unnecessary," said 
the First Lord of the Admiralty, in his secret instruc- 
tions, " to suggest to you the propriety of putting it 
under Sir Horatio Nelson." It is to the honour of 
Earl St. Vincent that he had already made the same 
choice. The British Government at this time, with 
a becoming spirit, gave orders that any port in the 
Mediterranean should be considered as hostile, where 
the governor, or chief magistrate, should refuse to 
let our ships of war procure supplies of provisions, 
or of any article which they might require. 

The armament at Toulon consisted of 13 ships of 
the line, 7 forty gun frigates, with 24 smaller vessels 
of war, and nearly 200 transports. Mr. Udney, our 
consul at Leghorn, was the first person who procured 
certain intelligence of the enemy's design against 
Malta; and, from his own sagacity, foresaw that 
Egypt must be their after object. Nelson sailed from 
Gibraltar on the 9th of May, with the " Vanguard," 
" Orion," and " Alexander," 74s ; the " Caroline," 
" Flora," " Emerald," and " Terpsichore " frigates ; 
and the " Bonne Citoyenne " sloop of war ; to watch 



134 LIFE OF NELSON. 

this formidable armament. On the 19th, when they 
were in the Gulf of Lyons, a gale came on from the 
N. W. It moderated so much on the 20th as to 
enable them to get their top-gallant masts and yards 
aloft. After dark it again began to blow strong, but 
the ships had been prepared for a gale, and there- 
fore Nelson's mind was easy. Shortly before mid- 
night, however, his main-top-mast went over the side, 
and the mizen-topmast soon afterward. The night 
was so tempestuous that it was impossible for any 
signal either to be seen or heard, and Nelson de- 
termined, as soon as it should be daybreak, to wear, 
and scud before the gale ; but at half-past three the 
foremast went in three pieces, and the bowsprit was 
found to be sprung in three places. When day 
broke, they succeeded in wearing the ship with a 
remnant of the spritsail : this was hardly to have 
been expected : the " Vanguard " was at that time 25 
leagues south of the islands of Hieres, with her head 
lying to the N. E. ; and if she had not wore, the ship 
must have drifted to Corsica. Captain Ball, in the 
" Alexander," took her in tow, to carry her into the 
Sardinian harbour of St. Pietro. Nelson, apprehensive 
that this attempt might endanger both vessels, or- 
dered him to cast off : but that excellent officer, with 
a spirit like his commander's, replied, he was con- 
fident he could save the " Vanguard," and, by God's 
help, he would do it. There had been a previous 
coolness between these great men ; but from this 
time Nelson became fully sensible of the extraordi- 
nary talents of Captain Ball, and a sincere friendship 



LIFE OF NELSON. 135 

subsisted between them during the remainder of their 
lives. " I ought not," said the admiral, writing to his 
wife, — " I ought not to call what has happened to the 
1 Vanguard ' by the cold name of accident : I believe 
firmly it was the Almighty's goodness, to check my 
consummate vanity. I hope it has made me a better 
officer, as I feel confident it has made me a better 
man. Figure to yourself, on Sunday evening, at sun- 
set, a vain man walking in his cabin, with a squadron 
around him, who looked up to their chief to lead them 
to glory, and in whom their chief placed the firmest 
reliance that the proudest ships of equal numbers 
belonging to France would have lowered their flags ; 
figure to yourself, on Monday morning, when the sun 
rose, this proud man, his ship dismasted, his fleet 
dispersed, and himself in such distress that the mean- 
est frigate out of France would have been an unwel- 
come guest." Nelson had, indeed, more reason to 
refuse the cold name of accident to this tempest than 
he was then aware of ; for on that very day the 
French fleet sailed from Toulon, and must have 
passed within a few leagues of his little squadron, 
which was thus preserved by the thick weather that 
came on. 

In the orders of the British Government to con- 
sider all ports as hostile where the British ships 
should be refused supplies, the ports of Sardinia 
were excepted. The continental possessions of the 
King of Sardinia were at this time completely at the 
mercy of the French, and that prince was now dis- 
covering, when too late, that the terms to which he 



136 LIFE OF NELSON. 

had consented, for the purpose of escaping immediate 
danger, necessarily involved, at last, the loss of the 
dominions which they were intended to preserve. 
The citadel of Turin was now occupied by French 
troops ; and his wretched court feared to afford the 
common rights of humanity to British ships, lest it 
should give the French occasion to seize on the re- 
mainder of his dominions — a measure for which, it 
was certain, they would soon make a pretext, if they 
did not find one. Nelson was informed that he 
could not be permitted to enter the port of St. Pietro. 
Regardless of this interdict, which, under his circum- 
stances, it would have been an act of suicidal folly 
to have regarded, he anchored in the harbour ; and 
by the exertions of .Sir James Saumarez, Captain 
Ball, and Captain Berry, the " Vanguard " was re- 
fitted in four days ; months would have been em- 
ployed in refitting her in England. Nelson, with 
that proper sense of merit wherever it was found, 
which proved at once the goodness and the greatness 
of his character, especially recommended to Earl St. 
Vincent the carpenter of the " Alexander," under 
whose directions the ship had been repaired, stating 
that he was an old and faithful servant of the crown, 
who had been nearly thirty years a warranted car- 
penter, and begging most earnestly that the com- 
mander-in-chief would recommend him to the 
particular notice of the Board of Admiralty. He 
did not leave the harbour without expressing his 
sense of the treatment which he had received there, 
in a letter to the Viceroy of Sardinia, — " Sir," it said, 



LIFE OF NELSON. 137 

" having, by a gale of wind, sustained some trifling 
damages, I anchored a small part of His Majesty's 
fleet under my orders off this island, and was sur- 
prised to hear, by an officer sent by the governor, 
that admittance was to be refused to the flag of his 
Britannic Majesty into this port. When I reflect 
that my most gracious sovereign is the oldest, I be- 
lieve, and certainly the most faithful, ally which the 
King of Sardinia ever had, I could feel the sorrow 
which it must have been to His Majesty to have 
given such an order ; and also for your Excellency, 
who had to direct its execution. I cannot but look 
at the African shore, where the followers of Mahomet 
are performing the part of the good Samaritan, 
which I look for in vain at St. Peter's, where it is 
said the Christian religion is professed." 

The delay which was thus occasioned was useful 
to him in many respects : it enabled him to complete 
his supply of water, and to receive a reinforcement, 
which Earl St. Vincent, being himself reinforced 
from England, was enabled to send him. It con- 
sisted of the best ships of his fleet — the "Culloden," 
74, Captain T. Trowbridge ; " Goliath," 74, Captain 
T. Foley ; " Minotaur," 74, Captain T. Louis ; 
" Defence," 74, Captain John Peyton ; " Bellerophon," 
74, Captain H. D. E. Darby ; " Majestic," 74, Cap- 
tain G. B. Westcott; "Zealous," 74, Captain S. 
Hood ; " Swiftsure," 74, Captain B. Hallowell ; 
11 Theseus," 74, Captain R. W. Miller ; " Audacious," 
74, Captain Davidge Gould. The " Leander," 50, 
Captain T. B. Thomson, was afterward added. 



138 LIFE OF NELSON. 

These ships were made ready for the service as soon 
as Earl St. Vincent received advice from England 
that he was to be reinforced. As soon as the rein- 
forcement was seen from the masthead of the 
admiral's ship, off Cadiz Bay, signal was immediately 
made to Captain Trowbridge to put to sea ; and he 
was out of sight before the ships from home cast 
anchor in the British station. Trowbridge took with 
him no instructions to Nelson as to the course he 
was to steer, nor any certain account of the enemy's 
destination : everything was left to his own judg- 
ment. Unfortunately, the frigates had been separated 
from him in the tempest, and had not been able to 
rejoin : they sought him unsuccessfully in the Bay of 
Naples, where they obtained no tidings of his course ; 
and he sailed without them. 

The first news of the enemy's armament was. that 
it had surprised Malta. Nelson formed a plan for 
attacking it while at anchor at Gozo ; but on the 
22nd of June intelligence reached him that the 
French had left that island on the 16th, the day after 
their arrival. It was clear that their destination was 
eastward — he thought for Egypt — and for Egypt, 
therefore, he made all sail. Had the frigates been 
with him he could scarcely have failed to gain infor- 
mation of the enemy: for want of them, he only 
spoke three vessels on the way; two came from 
Alexandria, one from the Archipelago ; and neither 
of them had seen anything of the French. He 
arrived off Alexandria on the 28th, and the enertiy 
were not there, neither was there any account of 



LIFE OF NELSON. 139 

them; but the governor was endeavouring to put 
the city in a state of defence, having received advice 
from Leghorn that the French expedition was in- 
tended against Egypt, after it had taken Malta. 
Nelson then shaped his course to the northward for 
Caramania, and steered from thence along the 
southern side of Candia, carrying a press of sail both 
night and day, with a contrary wind. It would have 
been his delight, he said, to have tried Buonaparte on 
a wind. It would have been the delight of Europe 
too, and the blessing of the world, if that fleet had 
been overtaken with its general on board. But of 
the myriads and millions of human beings who 
would have be enpreserved by that day's victory, there 
is not one to whom such essential benefit would have 
resulted as to Buonaparte himself. It would have 
spared him his defeat at Acre — his only disgrace ; 
for to have been defeated by Nelson upon the seas, 
would not have been disgraceful : it would have 
spared him all his after enormities. Hitherto his 
career had been glorious ; the baneful principles of 
his heart had never yet passed his lips : history 
would have represented him as a soldier of fortune, 
who had faithfully served the cause in which he 
engaged ; and whose career had been distinguished 
by a series of successes unexampled in modern 
times. A romantic obscurity would have hung over 
the expedition to Egypt, and he would have escaped 
the perpetration of those crimes which have incarna- 
dined his soul with a deeper dye than that of the 
purple for which he committed them ; — those acts of 



i 4 o LIFE OF NELSON. 

perfidy, midnight murder, usurpation, and remorse- 
less tyranny, which have consigned his name to 
universal execration, now and for ever. 

Conceiving that when an officer is not successful 
in his plans, it is absolutely necessary that he should 
explain the motives upon which they were founded, 
Nelson wrote at this time an account and vindication 
of his conduct for having carried the fleet to Egypt. 
The objection which he anticipated was, that he 
ought not to have made so long a voyage without 
more certain information. " My answer," said he, 
" is ready — Who was I to get it from ? The Govern- 
ments of Naples and Sicily either knew not, or chose 
to keep me in ignorance. Was I to wait patiently 
until I heard certain accounts ? If Egypt were their 
object, before I could hear of them they would have 
been in India. To do nothing was disgraceful ; 
therefore I made use of my understanding. I am 
before your lordships' judgment : and if, under all 
circumstances, it is decided that I am wrong, I 
ought, for the sake of our country, to be superseded ; 
for at this moment, when I know the French are not 
in Alexandria, I hold the same opinion as off Cape 
Passaro, — that, under all circumstances, I was right 
in steering for Alexandria: and by that opinion \ 
must stand or fall." Captain Ball, to whom he 
showed this paper, told him he should recommend a 
friend never to begin a defence of his conduct before 
he was accused of error : he might give the fullest 
reasons for what he had done, expressed in such 
terms as would evince that he had acted from the 



LIFE OF NELSON. \\\ 

strongest conviction of being right ; and of course he 
must expect that the public would view it in the 
same light. Captain Ball judged rightly of the pub- 
lic, whose first impulses, though from want of suffi- 
cient information they must frequently be erroneous, 
are generally founded upon just feelings. But the 
public are easily misled, and there are always persons 
ready to mislead them. Nelson had not yet attained 
that fame which compels envy to be silent; and 
when it was known in England that he had returned 
after an unsuccessful pursuit, it was said that he 
deserved impeachment; and Earl St. Vincent was 
severely censured for having sent so young an officer 
upon so important a service. 

Baffled in his pursuit, he returned to Sicily. The 
Neapolitan ministry had determined to give his 
squadron no assistance, being resolved to do nothing 
which could possibly endanger their peace with the 
French Directory. By means, however, of Lady 
Hamilton's influence at court, he procured secret 
orders to the Sicilian governors ; and, under those 
orders, obtained everything which he wanted at Syra- 
cuse — a timely supply; without which, he always 
said, he could not have recommenced his pursuit with 
any hope of success. " It is an old saying," said he 
in his letter, " that ' the devil's children have the 
devil's luck.' I cannot to this moment learn, beyond 
vague conjecture, where the French fleet are gone 
to ; and having gone a round of six hundred leagues 
at this season of the year, with an expedition incredi- 
ble, here I am, as ignorant of the situation of the 



142 LIFE OF NELSON. 

enemy as I was twenty-seven days ago. Every mo- 
ment I have to regret the frigates having left me ; 
had one-half of them been with me, I could not have 
wanted information. Should the French be so 
strongly secured in port that I cannot get at them, I 
shall immediately shift my flag into some other ship, 
and send the ' Vanguard ' to Naples to be refitted, 
for hardly any person but myself would have con- 
tinued on service so long in such a wretched state.'' 
Vexed, however, and disappointed as he was, Nelson 
with the true spirit of a hero, was still full of hope. 
" Thanks to your exertions," said he, writing to Sir 
W. and Lady Hamilton, " we have victualled and 
watered ; and surely watering at the fountain of Are- 
thusa, we must have victory. We shall sail with the 
first breeze ; and be assured I will return either 
crowned with laurel or covered with cypress." Earl 
St. Vincent he assured, that if the French were above 
water he would find them out — he still held his opin- 
ion that they were bound for Egypt ; "but," said he 
to the First Lord of the Admiralty, " be they bound 
to the Antipodes, your lordship may rely that I will 
not lose a moment in bringing them to action." 

On the 25th of July he sailed from Syracuse for the 
Morea. Anxious beyond measure, and irritated that 
the enemy should so long have eluded him, the tedi- 
ousness of the nights made him impatient ; and the 
officer of the watch was repeatedly called on to let 
him know the hour, and convince him, who measured 
time by his own eagerness, that it was not yet day- 
break. The squadron made the Gulf of Coron on the 



LIFE OF NELSON. 143 

28th. Trowbridge entered the port, and returned 
with intelligence that the French had been seen about 
four weeks before steering to the S. E., from Candia. 
Nelson then determined immediately to return to 
Alexandria ; and the British fleet accordingly, with 
every sail set, stood once more for the coast of Egypt. 
On the 1st of August they came in sight of Alexan- 
dria ; and at four in the afternoon, Captain Hood, in 
the " Zealous," made the signal for the French fleet. 
For many preceding days Nelson had hardly taken 
either sleep or food ; he now ordered his dinner to 
be served, while preparations were making for battle ; 
and when his officers rose from table, and went to 
their separate stations, he said to them : " Before 
this time to-morrow I shall have gained a peerage, or 
Westminster Abbey." 

The French steering direct for Candia, had made 
an angular passage for Alexandria ; whereas Nelson, 
in pursuit of them, made straight for that place, and 
thus materially shortened the distance. The com- 
parative smallness of his force made it necessary to 
sail in close order, and it covered a less space than it 
would have done if the frigates had been with him : 
the weather also was constantly hazy. These circum- 
stances prevented the English from falling in with 
the enemy on the way to Egypt, and during the re- 
turn to Syracuse there was still less probability of 
discovering him. 

Why Buonaparte, having effected his landing, 
should not have suffered the fleet to return, has never 
yet been explained. Thus much is certain, that it 



144 LIFE OF NELSON. 

was detained by his command ; though, with his ac- 
customed falsehood, he accused Admiral Brueys, 
after that officer's death, of having lingered on the 
coast, contrary to orders. The French fleet arrived 
at Alexandria on the ist of July ; and Brueys not be- 
ing able to enter the port, which time and neglect 
had ruined, moored his ships in Aboukir Bay, in a 
strong and compact line of battle ; the headmost 
vessel, according to his own account, being as close 
as possible to a shoal on the N.W., and the rest of 
the fleet forming a kind of curve along the line of 
deep water, so as not to be turned by any means in 
the S.W. By Buonaparte's desire he had offered a 
reward of 10,000 livres to any pilot of the country 
who would carry the squadron in ; but none could 
be found who would venture to take charge of a single 
vessel drawing more than twenty feet. He had there- 
fore made the best of his situation, and chosen the 
strongest position which he could possibly take in an 
open road. The commissary of the fleet said, they 
were moored in such a manner as to bid defiance to 
a force more than double their own. This presump- 
tion could not then be thought unreasonable. Ad- 
miral Barrington, when moored in a similar manner 
off St. Lucia, in the year 1778, beat off the " Comte 
d'Estaign " in three several attacks, though his force 
was inferior by almost one-third to that which assailed 
it. Here, the advantage of numbers, both in ships, 
guns, and men, was in favour of the French. They 
had thirteen ships of the line and four frigates, carry- 
ing 1 j 96 guns and 11,230 men. The English had 



LIFE OF NELSON. 145 

the same number of ships of the line, and one 50 gun 
ship, carrying 1012 guns and 8068 men. The Eng- 
lish ships were all 74s : the French had three 80 
gun ships, and one three-decker of 120.* 

During the whole pursuit, it had been Nelson's 
practice, whenever circumstances would permit, to 
have his captains on board the " Vanguard," and ex- 
plain to them his own ideas of the different and best 
modes of attack, and such plans as he proposed to 
execute, on falling in with the enemy, whatever their 
situation might be. There is no possible position, it 
is said, which he did not take into calculation. His 
officers were thus fully acquainted with his principles 
of tactics : and such was his confidence in their 
abilities, that the only thing determined upon, in case 
they should find the French at anchor, was for the 
ships to form as most convenient for their mutual 
support, and to anchor by the stern. " First gain 
the victory," he said, " and then make the best use 
of it you can." The moment he perceived the posi- 
tion of the French, that intuitive genius with which 
Nelson was endowed displayed itself ; and it instantly 
struck him, that where there was room for an 
enemy's ship to swing, there was room for one of 
ours to anchor. The plan which he intended to 

* Abstract of the British Force, in guns and men, actually engaged : 
—Thirteen ships of 74 guns each, and one of 50 guns. Number of 
guns, 1012; number of men, 8068. 

Abstract of the French Force, in guns and men, actually engaged : 
— One of 120 guns; three of 80 guns; nine of 74 guns; and four 
frigates. Number of guns, 1 196; number of men, 11,230. 

Difference in favour of the French— 184 guns ; 3162 men. 
IO 



146 LIFE OF NELSON. 

pursue, therefore, was to keep entirely on the outer 
side of the French line, and station his ships, as far 
as he was able, one on the outer bow, and another 
on the outer quarter, of each of the enemy's. This 
plan of doubling on the enemy's ships was projected 
by Lord Hood, when he designed to attack the 
French fleet at their anchorage in Gourjean Road. 
Lord Hood found it impossible to make the attempt ; 
but the thought was not lost upon Nelson, who ac- 
knowledged himself on this occasion indebted for it 
to his old and excellent commander. Captain Berry, 
when he comprehended the scope of the design, ex- 
claimed with transport, " If we succeed, what will 
the world say ? " — " There is no if in the case," re- 
plied the admiral : " that we shall succeed is certain : 
who may live to tell the story, is a very different 
question." 

As the squadron advanced, the enemy opened a 
steady fire from the starboard side of their whole line, 
full into the bows of our van ships. It was received 
in silence : the men on board of every ship were em- 
ployed aloft in furling sails, and below in tending the 
braces, and making ready for anchoring. A miser- 
able sight for the French ; who with all their skill, 
and all their courage, and all their advantages of 
numbers and situation, were upon that element, on 
which, when the hour of trial comes, a Frenchman 
has no hope. Admiral Brueys was a brave and able 
man ; yet the indelible character of his country broke 
out in one of his letters, wherein he delivered it as 
his private opinion, that the English had missed him, 



LIFE OF NELSON. itf 

because, not being superior in force, they did not 
think it prudent to try their strength with him. The 
moment was now come in which he was to be unde- 
ceived. 

A French brig was instructed to decoy the English, 
by manoeuvring so as to tempt them toward a shoal 
lying off the island of Bequieres ; but Nelson either 
knew the danger, or suspected some deceit, and the 
lure was unsuccessful. Captain Foley led the way in 
the " Goliath," out-sailing the " Zealous," which for 
some minutes disputed this post of honour with him. 
He had long conceived, that if the enemy were 
moored in line of battle in with the land, the best 
plan of attack would be to lead between them and 
the shore, because the French guns on that side were 
not likely to be manned, nor even ready for action. 
Intending, therefore, to fix himself on the inner bow 
of the " Guerrier," he kept as near the edge of the 
bank as the depth of water would admit ; but his 
anchor hung, and having opened his fire, he drifted 
to the second ship, the " Conquerant," before it was 
clear ; then anchored by the stern, inside of her, and 
in ten minutes shot away her masts. Hood, in the 
" Zealous," perceiving this, took the station which the 
" Goliath " intended to have occupied, and he totally 
disabled the " Guerrier " in twelve minutes. The 
third ship which doubled the enemy's van was the 
" Orion," Sir J. Saumarez ; she passed to windward 
of the " Zealous," and opened her larboard guns as 
long as they bore on the " Guerrier ; " then passing 
inside the " Goliath," sunk a frigate which annoyed 



148 LIFE OF NELSON. 

her, hauled round toward the French line, and anchor- 
ing inside, between the fifth and sixth ships from the 
"Guerrier," took her station on the larboard bow of 
the *• Franklin," and the quarter of the " Peuple Sou- 
verain," receiving and returning the fire of both. The 
sun was now nearly down. The " Audacious," Cap- 
tain Gould, pouring a heavy fire into the " Guerrier," 
and the " Conquerant," fixed herself on the larboard 
bow of the latter ; and when that ship struck, passed 
on to the " Peuple Souverain." The " Theseus," 
Captain Miller, followed, brought down the " Guer- 
rier's" remaining main and mizen masts, then an- 
chored inside of the " Spartiate," the third in the 
French line. 

While these advanced ships doubled the French 
line, the " Vanguard " was the first that anchored on 
the outer side of the enemy, within half-pistol-shot 
of their third ship, the " Spartiate." Nelson had six 
colours flying in different parts of his rigging, lest 
they should be shot away ; — that they should be 
struck, no British admiral considers as a possibility. 
He veered half a cable, and instantly opened a tre- 
mendous fire ; under cover of which the other four 
ships of his division, the " Minotaur," " Bellerophon," 
" Defence," and " Majestic," sailed on ahead of the 
admiral. In a few minutes, every man stationed at 
the first six guns in the fore part of the " Vanguard's " 
deck was killed or wounded : — these guns were three 
times cleared. Captain Louis, in the " Minotaur," 
anchored next ahead, and took off the fire of the 
"Aquilon," the fourth in the enemy's line. The 



LIFE OF NELSON. 149 

" Bellerophon," Captain Darby, passed ahead, and 
dropped her stern anchor on the starboard bow of 
the " Orient," seventh in the line, Brueys' own ship, 
of 120 guns, whose difference of force was in propor- 
tion of more than seven to three, and whose weight of 
ball, from the lower deck alone, exceeded that from 
the whole broadside of the " Bellerophon." Cap- 
tain Peyton, in the " Defence," took his station ahead 
of the " Minotaur," and engaged the " Franklin," 
the sixth in the line ; by which judicious movement 
the British line remained unbroken. The " Majestic," 
Captain Westcott, got entangled with the main rig- 
ging of one of the French ships astern of the " Orient," 
and suffered dreadfully from that three-decker's fire : 
but she swung clear, and closely engaging the " Heur- 
eux," the ninth ship on the starboard bow, received 
also the fire of the " Tonnant," which was the eighth 
in the line. The other four ships of the British 
squadron, having been detached previous to the dis- 
covery of the French, were at a considerable distance 
when the action began. It commenced at half-past 
six; about seven, night closed, and there was no 
other light than that from the fire of the contending 
fleets. 

Trowbridge, in the "Culloden," the foremost of 
the remaining ships, was two leagues astern. He 
came on sounding, as the others had done ; as he 
advanced, the increasing darkness increased the 
difficulty of navigation; and suddenly, after having 
found eleven fathoms' water, before the lead could 
be hove again, he was fast aground ; nor could all 



150 LIFE OF NELSON. 

his own exertions, joined to those of the " Leander " 
and the " Mutine " brig, which came to his assistance, 
get him off in time to bear a part in the action. His 
ship, however, served as a beacon to the " Alex- 
ander" and "Swiftsure" which would else, from the 
course which they were holding, have gone consider- 
ably farther on the reef, and must inevitably have 
been lost. These ships entered the bay, and took 
their stations, in the darkness, in a manner still 
spoken of with admiration by all who remember it. 
Captain Hallowell, in the " Swiftsure," as he was 
bearing down, fell in with what seemed to be a strange 
sail ; Nelson had directed his ships to hoist four 
lights horizontally at the mizenpeak, as soon as it 
became dark : and this vessel had no such distinction. 
Hallowell, however, with great judgment, ordered 
his men not to fire ; if she was an enemy, he said, 
she was in too disabled a state to escape ; but, from 
her sails being loose, and the way in which her head 
was, it was probable she might be an English ship. 
It was the " Bellerophon," overpowered by the huge 
" Orient;" her lights had gone overboard, nearly 200 
of her crew were killed or wounded, all her masts 
and cables had been shot away ; and she was drifting 
out of the line, toward the lee side of the bay. Her 
station, at this important time, was occupied by the 
" Swiftsure," which opened a steady fire on the quar- 
ter of the " Franklin " and the bows of the French 
admiral. At the same instant, Captain Ball, with 
the " Alexander," passed under his stern, and anchored 
within side on his larboard quarter, raking him, and 



LIFE OF NELSON. 151 

keeping up a severe fire of musketry upon his decks. 
The last ship which arrived to complete the destruc- 
tion of the enemy was the " Leander." Captain 
Thompson, finding that nothing could be done that 
night to get off the " Culloden," advanced with the 
intention of anchoring athwart hawse of the " Orient." 
The " Franklin " was so near her ahead, that there 
was not room for him to pass clear of the two ; he 
therefore took his station athwart hawse of the latter, 
in such a position as to rake both. 

The two first ships of the French line had been 
dismasted within a quarter of an hour after the com- 
mencement of the action ; and the others had in that 
time suffered so severely that victory was already 
certain. The third, fourth, and fifth were taken 
possession of at half-past eight. Meantime, Nelson 
received a severe wound on the head from a piece of 
langridge shot. Captain Berry' caught him in his 
arms as he was falling. The great effusion of blood 
occasioned an apprehension that the wound was 
mortal ; Nelson himself thought so ; a large flap of 
the skin of the forehead, cut from the bone, had 
fallen over one eye, and the other being blind, he 
was in total darkness. When he was carried down, 
the surgeon — in the midst of a scene scarcely to be 
conceived by those who have never seen a cock-pit 
in time of action, and the heroism which is displayed 
amid its horrors, — with a natural and pardonable 
eagerness, quitted the poor fellow then under his 
hands, that he might instantly attend the admiral. 
" No ! " said Nelson, " I will take my turn with my 



152 LIFE OF NELSON. 

brave fellows." Nor would he suffer his own wound 
to be examined till every man who had been pre- 
viously wounded was properly attended to. Fully 
believing that the wound was mortal, and that he 
was about to die, as he had ever desired, in battle 
and in victory, he called the chaplain, and desired 
him to deliver what he supposed to be his dying 
remembrance to Lady Nelson ; he then sent for Cap- 
tain Louis on board from the " Minotaur," that he 
might thank him personally for the great assistance 
which he had rendered to the "Vanguard;" and 
ever mindful of those who deserved to be his friends, 
appointed Captain Hardy from the brig to the com- 
mand of his own ship, Captain Berry having to go 
home with the news of the victory. When the 
surgeon came in due time to examine his wound, 
(for it was in vain to entreat him to let it be examined 
sooner), the most anxious silence prevailed ; and the 
joy of the wounded men, and of the whole crew, 
when they heard that the hurt was merely superficial, 
gave Nelson deeper pleasure than the unexpected 
assurance that his life was in no danger. The sur- 
geon requested, and, as far as he could, ordered him 
to remain quiet ; but Nelson could not rest. He 
called for his secretary, Mr. Campbell, to write the 
despatches. Campbell had himself been wounded ; 
and was so affected at the blind and suffering state 
of the admiral, that he was unable to write. The 
chaplain was then sent for ; but, before he came, 
Nelson, with his characteristic eagerness, took the 
pen, and contrived to trace a few words, marking his 



LIFE OF NELSON. i 53 

devout sense of the success which had already been 
obtained. He was now left alone ; when suddenly 
a cry was heard on the deck, that the " Orient " was 
on fire. In the confusion, he found his way up, 
unassisted and unnoticed ; and, to the astonishment 
of every one, appeared on the quarter-deck, where he 
immediately gave order that boats should be sent to 
the relief of the enemy. 

It was soon after nine that the fire on board the 
"Orient" broke out. Brueys was dead : he had 
received three wounds, yet would not leave his post : 
a fourth cut him almost in two. He desired not to 
be carried below, but to be left to die upon deck. 
The flames soon mastered his ship. Her sides had 
just been painted, and the oil-jars and paint-buckets 
were lying on the poop. By the prodigious light of 
this conflagration, the situation of the two fleets 
could now be perceived, the colours of both being 
clearly distinguishable. About ten o'clock the ship 
blew up. This tremendous explosion was followed 
by a silence not less awful : the firing immediately 
ceased on both sides ; and the first sound which 
broke the silence, was the dash of her shattered 
masts and yards, falling into the water from the vast 
height to which they had been exploded. It is upon 
record, that a battle between two armies was once 
broken off by an earthquake : — such an event would 
be felt like a miracle ; but no incident in war, pro- 
duced by human means, has ever equalled the sub- 
limity of this coinstantaneous pause, and all its 
circumstances. 



154 LIFE OF NELSON. 

About seventy of the " Orient's " crew were saved 
by the English boats. Among the many hundreds 
who perished, were the Commodore, Casa-Bianca, 
and his son, a brave boy only ten years old. They 
were seen floating on the wreck of a mast when the 
ship blew up. She had money on board to the 
amount of ^600,000 sterling. A port fire from her 
fell into the main-royal of the " Alexander : " the 
fire which it occasioned was speedily extinguished. 
Captain Ball had provided, as far as human, foresight 
could provide, against any such danger. All the 
shrouds and sails of his ship, which were not abso- 
lutely necessary for its immediate management, were 
thoroughly wetted, and so rolled up, that they were 
as hard and as little inflammable as so many solid 
cylinders. 

The firing recommenced with the ships to leeward 
of the centre, and continued till about three. At 
daybreak the " Guillaume Tell " and the " Genereux," 
the two rear ships of the enemy, were the only 
French ships of the line which had their colours fly- 
ing : they cut their cables in the forenoon, not having 
been engaged, and stood out to sea, and two frigates 
with them. The " Zealous " pursued ; but as there 
was no other ship in a condition to support Captain 
Hood, he was recalled. It was generally believed by 
the officers, that if Nelson had not been wounded, 
not one of these ships could have escaped : the four 
certainly could not, if the " Culloden " had got into 
action : and if the frigates belonging to the squadron 
had been present, not one of the enemy's fleet would 



LIFE OF NELSON. 155 

have left Aboukir Bay. These four vessels, how- 
ever, were all that escaped ; and the victory was the 
most complete and glorious in the annals of naval 
history. " Victory," said Nelson, " is not a name 
strong enough for such a scene ; " he called it a con- 
quest. Of thirteen sail of the line, nine were taken 
and two burnt : of the four frigates, one burnt, 
another sunk. The British loss in killed and wounded 
amounted to 895. Westcott was the only captain 
who fell. 3105 of the French, including the wounded, 
were sent on shore by cartel ; and 5225 perished. 

As soon as the conquest was completed, Nelson 
sent orders through the fleet, to return thanksgiving 
in every ship for the victory with which Almighty God 
had blessed His Majesty's arms. The French at 
Rosetta, who with miserable fear beheld the engage- 
ment, were at a loss to understand the stillness of the 
fleet during the performance of this solemn duty ; but 
it seemed to affect many of the prisoners, officers as 
well as men : and graceless and godless as the officers 
were, some of them remarked, that it was no wonder 
such order was preserved in the British navy, when 
the minds of our men could be impressed with such 
sentiments after so great a victory, and at a moment 
of such confusion. The French at Rosetta seeing 
their four ships sail out of the bay unmolested, en- 
deavoured to persuade themselves that they were in 
possession of the place of battle. But it was in vain 
thus to attempt, against their own secret and certain 
conviction, to deceive themselves : and even if they 
could have succeeded in this, the bonfires which the 



156 LIFE OF NELSON. 

Arabs kindled along the whole coast, and over the 
country, for three following nights, would soon have 
undeceived them. Thousands of Arabs and Egyp- 
tians lined the shore, and covered the house-tops 
during the action, rejoicing in the destruction which 
had overtaken their invaders. Long after the battle, 
innumerable bodies were seen floating about the bay, 
in spite of all the exertions which were made to sink 
them, as well from fear of pestilence as from the 
loathing and horror which the sight occasioned. The 
shore, for an extent of four leagues, was covered with 
wreck ; and the Arabs found employment for many 
days in burning on the beach the fragments which 
were cast up, for the sake of the iron. Part of the 
" Orient's " mainmast was picked up by the " Swift- 
sure." Captain Hallowell ordered his carpenter to 
make a coffin of it ; the . iron as well as wood was 
taken from the wreck of the same ship : it was finished 
as well and handsomely as the workman's skill and 
materials would permit ; and Hallowell then sent it 
to the Admiral with the following letter : — " Sir, I 
have taken the liberty of presenting you a coffin made 
from the mainmast of ' l'Orient,' that when you have 
finished your military career in this world you may 
be buried in one of your trophies. But that that 
period may be far distant, is the earnest wish of your 
sincere friend, Benjamin Hallowell." — An offering so 
strange, and yet so suited to the occasion, was re- 
ceived by Nelson in the spirit with which it was sent. 
As if he felt it good for him, now that he was at the 
summit of his wishes, to have death before his eyes, 



LIFE OF NELSON. i$7 

he ordered the coffin to be placed upright in his cabin. 
Such a piece of furniture, however, was more suitable 
to his own feelings than to those of his guests and 
attendants ; and an old favourite servant entreated 
him so earnestly to let it be removed, that at length 
he consented to have the coffin carried below : but he 
gave strict orders that it should be safely stowed, and 
reserved for the purpose for which its brave and 
worthy donor had designed it. 

The victory was complete ; but Nelson could not 
pursue it as he would have done for want of means. 
Had he been provided with small craft, nothing could 
have prevented the destruction of the storeships and 
transports in the port of Alexandria— four bomb- 
vessels would at that time have burnt the whole in a 
few hours. " Were I to die this moment," said he in 
his despatches to the Admiralty, " want of frigates 
would be found stamped on my heart ! No words of 
mine can express what I have suffered, and am suffer- 
ing, for want of them." He had also to bear up 
against great bodily suffering : the blow had so shaken 
his head, that from its constant and violent aching, 
and the perpetual sickness which accompanied the 
pain, he could scarcely persuade himself that the skull 
was not fractured. Had it not been for Trowbridge, 
Ball, Hood, and Hallowell, he declared that he should 
have sunk under the fatigue of refitting the squadron. 
" All," he said, " had done well ; but these officers 
were his supporters." But, amidst his sufferings and 
exertions, Nelson could yet think of all the conse- 
quences of his victory ; and, that no advantage from 



158 LIFE OF NELSON. 

it might be lost, he despatched an officer overland to 
India, with letters to the governor of Bombay, inform- 
ing him of the arrival of the French in Egypt, the 
total destruction of their fleet, and the consequent 
preservation of India from any attempt against it on 
the part of this formidable armament. " He knew 
that Bombay," he said, " was their first object, if they 
could get there ; but he trusted that Almighty God 
would overthrow in Egypt these pests of the human 
race. Buonaparte had never yet had to contend with 
an English officer, and he would endeavour to make 
him respect us." This despatch he sent upon his own 
responsibility, with letters of credit upon the East 
India Company, addressed to the British consuls, 
vice-consuls, and merchants on his route, Nelson say- 
ing, that if he had done wrong, he hoped the bill 
would be paid, and he would repay the Company : 
for, as an Englishman, he should be proud that it had 
been in his power to put our settlements on their 
guard. The information which by this means 
reached India was of great importance. Orders had 
just been received for defensive preparations, upon a 
scale proportionate to the apprehended danger ; and 
the extraordinary expenses, which would otherwise 
have been incurred, were thus prevented. 

Nelson was now at the summit of glory : congrat- 
ulations, rewards, and honours were showered upon 
him by all the states, and princes, and powers to 
whom his victory gave a respite. The first communi- 
cation of this nature which he received was from the 
Turkish Sultan, who, as soon as the invasion of Egypt 



LIFE OF NELSON. 159 

was known, had called upon " all true believers to 
take arms against those swinish infidels the French 
that they might deliver these blessed habitations 
from their accursed hands ; and who had ordered 
his pashas to turn night into day in their efforts to 
take vengeance." The present of "His Imperial 
Majesty, the powerful, formidable, and most magnifi- 
cent Grand Seignior," was a pelisse of sables, with 
broad sleeves, valued at five thousand dollars ; and 
a diamond aigrette, valued at eighteen thousand — the 
most honourable badge among the Turks, and in this 
instance more especially honourable, because it was 
taken from one of the royal turbans. " If it were 
worth a million," said Nelson to his wife, " my pleas- 
ure would be to see it in your possession." The 
Sultan also sent, in a spirit worthy of imitation, a 
purse of two thousand sequins, to be distributed 
among the wounded. The mother of the Sultan sent 
him a box, set with diamonds, valued at one thou- 
sand pounds. The Czar Paul, in whom the better 
part of his strangely-compounded nature at this time 
predominated, presented him with his portrait, set in 
diamonds, in a gold box, accompanied with a letter 
of congratulation written by his own hand. The 
King of Sardinia also wrote to him, and sent a gold 
box, set with diamonds. Honours in profusion were 
awaiting him at Naples. In his own country the 
king granted these honourable augmentations to his 
armorial ensign : a chief undulated, argent ; thereon 
waves of the sea ; from which a palm tree issuant, 
between a disabled ship on the dexter, and a ruinous 



160 LIFE OF NELSON. 

battery on the sinister, all proper ; and for his crest, 
on a naval crown, or, the chelengk, or plume, pre- 
sented to him by the Turk with the motto, Palm am 
qui meruit ferat* And to his supporters, being a 
sailor on the dexter, and a lion on the sinister, were 
given these honourable augmentations : a palm branch 
in the sailor's hand, and another in the paw of the 
lion, both proper, with a tri-coloured flag and staff in 
the lion's mouth. He was created Baron Nelson of 
the Nile, and of Burnham Thorpe, with a pension of 
^2000 for his own life, and those of his two imme- 
diate successors. When the grant was moved in the 
House of Commons, General Walpole expressed an 
opinion that a higher degree of rank ought to be 
conferred. Mr. Pitt made answer, that he thought it 
needless to enter into that question. " Admiral Nel- 
son's fame," he said, " would be co-equal with the 
British name, and it would be remembered that he 
had obtained the greatest naval victory on record '• 
when no man would think of asking, Whether he 
had been created a baron, a viscount, or an earl ? " 
It was strange that, in the very act of conferring a 
title, the minister should have excused himself for 
not having conferred a higher one, by representing 
all titles, on such an occasion, as nugatory and super- 

* It has been erroneously said that the motto was selected by the 
king; — it was fixed on by Lord Grenville. and taken from an ode of 
Jortin's. The application was singularly fortunate ; and the ode itself 
breathes a spirit in which no man ever more truly sympathised than 
Nelson : 

Concurrant paribus cum ratibus rates, 
Spectent numina ponti, et 
Palmam qui meruit ferat. 



LIFE OF NELSON. 161 

fluous. True, indeed, whatever title had been be- 
stowed, whether viscount, earl, marquis, duke, or 
prince, if our laws had so permitted, he who received 
it would have been Nelson still. That name he had 
ennobled beyond all addition of nobility : it was the 
name by which England loved him, France feared 
him, Italy, Egypt, and Turkey celebrated him, and 
by which he will continue to be known while the 
present kingdoms and languages of the world endure, 
and as long as their history after them shall be held 
in remembrance. It depended upon the degree of 
rank what should be the fashion of his coronet, in 
what page of the red book his name was to be in- 
serted, and what precedency should be allowed his 
lady in the drawing-room and at the ball. That 
Nelson's honours were affected thus far, and no 
farther, might be conceded to Mr. Pitt and his col- 
leagues in administration : but the degree of rank 
which they thought proper to allot was the measure 
of their gratitude,* though not of his services. This 

* Mr. Windham must be excepted from this well-deserved censure. 
He, whose fate it seems to have been almost always to think and feel 
more generously than those with whom he acted, declared, when he 
contended against his own party for Lord Wellington's peerage, that 
he always thought Lord Nelson had been inadequately rewarded. 
The case was the more flagrant, because an earldom had so lately been 
granted for the battle of St. Vincent's ; an action which could never 
be compared with the battle of the Nile, if the very different manner 
in which it was rewarded did not necessarily force a comparison ; es- 
pecially when the part which Nelson bore in it was considered. Lords 
Duncan and St. Vincent had each a pension of ^iooo from the Irish 
Government. This was not granted to Nelson, in consequence of the 
Union ; though surely, it would be more becoming to increase the 
British grant than to save a thousand a year by the Union in such cases. 
II 



162 LIFE OF NELSON. 

Nelson felt ; and this he expressed with indignation 
among his friends. 

Whatever may have been the motives of the minis- 
try, and whatever the formalities with which they 
excused their conduct to themselves, the importance 
and magnitude of the victory were universally ac- 
knowledged. A grant of ;£ 10,000 was voted to Nel- 
son by the East India Company; the Turkish Company 
presented him with a piece of plate ; the City of London 
presented a sword to him, and to each of his captains. 
Gold medals were distributed to the captains, and 
the first lieutenants of all the ships were promoted, 
as had been done after Lord Howe's victory. 
Nelson was exceedingly anxious that the captain and 
first lieutenant of the " Culloden " should not be 
passed over because of their misfortune. To Trow- 
bridge himself he said, " Let us rejoice that the ship 
which got on shore was commanded by an officer 
whose character is so thoroughly established." To 
the Admiralty he stated, that Captain Trowbridge's 
conduct was as fully entitled to praise as that of any 
one officer in the squadron, and as highly deserving 
of reward. " It was Trowbridge," said he, " who 
equipped the squadron so soon at Syracuse ; it was 
Trowbridge who exerted himself for me after the 
action ; it was Trowbridge who saved the ' Culloden,' 
when none that I know in the service would have 
attempted it." The gold medal, therefore, by the 
king's express desire, was given to Captain Trow- 
bridge, for his services bcth before and since, and for 
the great and wonderful exertions which he made at 



LIFE OF NELSON. 163 

the time of the action, in saving and getting off his 
ship. The private letter from the Admiralty to Nel- 
son informed him, that the first lieutenants of all the 
ships engaged were to be promoted. Nelson instantly 
wrote to the commander-in-chief. — " I sincerely 
hope," said he, "this is not intended to exclude the 
first lieutenant of the ' Culloden.' For Heaven's 
sake — for my sake — if it be so, get it altered. Our 
dear friend Trowbridge has endured enough. His 
sufferings were, in every respect, more than any of 
us." To the Admiralty he wrote in terms equally 
warm. " I hope, and believe, the word engaged is 
not intended to exclude the ' Culloden.' The merit 
of that ship, and her gallant captain, are too well 
known to benefit by anything I could say. Her mis- 
fortune was great in getting aground, while her more 
fortunate companions were in the full tide of happi- 
ness. No ; I am confident that my good Lord Spencer 
will never add misery to misfortune. Captain Trow- 
bridge on shore is superior to captains afloat : in the 
midst of his great misfortunes he made those signals 
which prevented certainly the 'Alexander' and 
' Swiftsure ' from running on the shoals. I beg your 
pardon for writing on a subject which, I verily be- 
lieve, has never entered your lordships' heads ; but 
my heart, as it ought to be, is warm to my gallant 
friends." Thus feelingly alive was Nelson to the 
claims and interests and feelings of others. The 
Admiralty replied, that the exception was necessary, 
as the ship had not been in action : but they desired 
the commander-in-chief to promote the lieutenant 
upon the first vacancy which should occur. 



164 LIFE OF NELSON. 

Nelson, in remembrance of an old and uninter- 
rupted friendship, appointed Alexander Davison sole 
prize agent for the captured ships : upon which 
Davison ordered medals to be struck in gold, for the 
captains ; in silver, for the lieutenants and warrant 
officers ; in gilt metal, for the petty officers ; and in 
copper, for the seamen and marines. The cost of 
this act of liberality amounted to nearly ^2000. It 
is worthy of record on another account ; — for some 
of the gallant men, who received no other honorary 
badge of their conduct on that memorable day than 
this copper medal, from a private individual, years 
afterwards, when they died upon a foreign station, 
made it their last request that the medals might care- 
fully be sent home to their respective friends, — so 
sensible are brave men of honour, in whatever rank 
they may be placed. 

Three of the frigates, whose presence would have 
been so essential a few weeks sooner, joined the 
squadron on the twelfth day after the action. The 
fourth joined a few days after them. Nelson thus 
received despatches which rendered it necessary for 
him to return to Naples. Before he left Egypt he 
burnt three of the prizes : they could not have been 
fitted for a passage to Gibralter in less than a month, 
and that at a great expense, and with the loss of the 
service of at least two sail of the line. " I rest 
assured," he said to the Admiralty, " that they will 
be paid for, and have held out that assurance to the 
squadron. For if an admiral, after a victory, is to 
look after the captured ships, and not to the distress- 



LIFE OF NELSON. 165 

ing of the enemy, very dearly, indeed, must the 
nation pay for the prizes. I trust that ^60,000 will 
be deemed a very moderate sum for them ; and when 
the services, time, and men, with the expense of fit- 
ting the three ships for a voyage to England, are 
considered, Government will save nearly as much as 
they are valued at. Paying for prizes," he continued, 
" is no new idea of mine, and would often prove an 
amazing saving to the state, even without taking into 
calculation what the nation loses by the attention of 
admirals to the property of the captors, — an atten- 
tion absolutely necessary, as a recompense for the 
exertions of the officers and men. An admiral may- 
be amply rewarded by his own feelings, and by the 
approbation of his superiors ; but what reward have 
the inferior officers and men but the value of the 
prizes ? If an admiral takes that from them, on any 
consideration, he cannot expect to be well supported." 
To Earl St. Vincent he said, " If he could have been 
sure that Government would have paid a reasonable 
value for them, he would have ordered two of the 
other prizes to be burnt : for they would cost more 
in refitting, and by the loss of ships attending them, 
than they were worth." 

Having sent the six remaining prizes forward 
under Sir James Saumarez, Nelson left Captain Hood, 
in the " Zealous," off Alexandria, with the " Swift- 
sure," " Goliath," " Alcmene," " Zealous," and 
"Emerald," and "stood out to sea himself on the 
seventeenth day after the battle. 



1 66 LIFE OF NELSON. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Nelson's health had suffered greatly while he was 
in the " Agamemnon." " My complaint," he said, 
" is as if a girth were buckled taut over my breast ; 
and my endeavour in the night is to get it loose." 
After the battle of Cape St. Vincent he felt a little 
rest to be so essential to his recovery, that he declared 
he could not continue to serve longer than the ensu- 
ing summer, unless it should be absolutely necessary ; 
for, in his own strong language, he had then been 
four years and nine months without one moment's 
repose for body or mind. A few months' inter- 
mission of labour he had obtained — not of rest, for 
it was purchased with the loss of a limb ; and the 
greater part of the time had been a season of con- 
stant pain. As soon as his shattered frame had suf- 
ficiently recovered for him to resume his duties, he 
was called to services of greater importance than any 
on which he had hitherto been employed, and they 
brought with them commensurate fatigue and care. 
The anxiety which he endured, during his long pur- 
suit of the enemy, was rather changed in its direc- 
tion than abated by their defeat ; and this constant 
wakefulness of thought, added to the effect of his 
wound, and exertions from which it was not possible 
for one of so ardent and wide-reaching a mind to 



LIFE OF NELSON. 167 

spare himself, nearly proved fatal. On his way back 
to Italy he was seized with fever. For eighteen 
hours his life was despaired of ; and even when the 
disorder took a favourable turn, and he was so far 
recovered as again to appear on deck, he himself 
thought that his end was approaching, — such was 
the weakness to which the fever and cough had 
reduced him. Writing to Earl St. Vincent on the 
passage, he said to him, " I never expect, my dear 
lord, to see your face again. It may please God that 
this will be the finish to that fever of anxiety which 
I have endured from the middle of June; but be 
that as it pleases His goodness, I am resigned to 
His will." 

The kindest attentions of the warmest friendship 
were awaiting him at Naples. "Come here," said 
Sir William Hamilton, " for God's sake, my dear 
friend, as soon as the service will permit you. A 
pleasant apartment is ready for you in my house, and 
Emma is looking out for the softest pillows to repose 
the few wearied limbs you have left." Happy would 
it have been for Nelson if warm and careful friend- 
ship had been all that awaited him there ! He him- 
self saw at that time the character of the Neapolitan 
court, as it first struck an Englishman, in its true 
light ; and when he was on the way, he declared 
that he detested the voyage to Naples, and that noth- 
ing but necessity could have forced him to it. But 
never was any hero, on his return from victory, 
welcomed with more heartfelt joy. Before the battle 
of Aboukir the court of Naples had been trembling 



168 LIFE OF NELSON. 

for its existence. The language which the directory 
held towards it was well described by Sir William 
Hamilton, as being exactly the language of a high- 
wayman. The Neapolitans were told that Benevento 
might be added to their dominions, provided they 
would pay a large sum, sufficient to satisfy the 
directory ; and they were warned, that if the pro- 
posal were refused, or even if there were any delay in 
accepting it, the French would revolutionise all Italy. 
The joy, therefore, of the court at Nelson's success, 
was in proportion to the dismay from which that suc- 
cess relieved them. The queen was a daughter of 
Maria Theresa, and sister of Marie Antoinette. Had 
she been the wisest and gentlest of her sex, it would 
not have been possible for her to have regarded the 
French without hatred and horror ; and the progress 
of revolutionary opinions, while it perpetually re- 
minded her of her sister's fate, excited no unreason- 
able apprehensions for her own. Her feelings, 
naturally ardent, and little accustomed to restraint, 
were excited to the highest pitch when the news of 
the victory arrived. Lady Hamilton, her constant 
friend and favourite, who was present, says, " It is 
not possible to describe her transports ; she wept, 
she kissed her husband, her children, walked franti- 
cally about the room, burst into tears again, and 
again kissed and embraced every person near her, 
exclaiming, ' O brave Nelson ! O God ! bless and 
protect our brave deliverer ! O Nelson ! Nelson ! 
what do we not owe you ! O conqueror — saviour of 
Italy ! Oh that my swollen heart could now tell him 






LIFE OF NELSON. 169 

personally what we owe to him ! ' " She herself 
wrote to the Neapolitan ambassador at London upon 
the occasion, in terms which show the fulness of her 
joy, and the height of the hopes which it had excited. 
" I wish I could give wings," said she, " to the 
bearer of the news, and, at the same time, to our 
most sincere gratitude. The whole of the sea-coast 
of Italy is saved ; and this is owing alone to the gen- 
erous English. This battle, or to speak more cor- 
rectly, this total defeat of the regicide squadron, was 
obtained by the valour of this brave admiral, second- 
ed by a navy which is the terror of its enemies. 
The victory is so complete, that I can still scarcely 
believe it ; and if it were not the brave English na- 
tion, which is accustomed to perform prodigies by 
sea, I could not persuade myself that it had happened. 
It would have moved you to have seen all my chil- 
dren, boys and girls, hanging on my neck, and crying 
for joy at the happy news. Recommend the hero to 
his master ; he has filled the whole of Italy with 
admiration of the English. Great hopes were enter- 
tained of some advantages being gained by his 
bravery, but no one could look for so total a destruc- 
tion. All here are drunk with joy." 

Such being the feelings of the royal family, it may 
well be supposed with what delight, and with what 
honours, Nelson would be welcomed. Early on the 
22d of September, the poor wretched " Vanguard," 
as he called his shattered vessel, appeared in sight of 
Naples. The " Culloden " and "Alexander" had 
preceded her by some days, and given notice of her 



170 LIFE OF NELSON. 

approach. Many hundred boats and barges were 
ready to go forth and meet him, with music and 
streamers, and every demonstration of joy and tri- 
umph. Sir William and Lady Hamilton led the way 
in their state barge. They had seen Nelson only for 
a few days four years ago, but they then perceived 
in him that heroic spirit which was now so fully and 
gloriously manifested to the world. Emma Lady 
Hamilton, who from this time so greatly influenced 
his future life, was a woman whose personal accom- 
plishments have seldom been equalled, and whose 
powers of mind were not less fascinating than her 
person. She was passionately attached to the queen ; 
and by her influence the British fleet had obtained 
those supplies at Syracuse, without which, Nelson 
always asserted, the battle of Aboukir could not have 
been fought. During the long interval which passed 
before any tidings were received, her anxiety had 
been hardly less than that of Nelson himself while 
pursuing an enemy of whom he could obtain no in- 
formation ; and when the tidings were brought her 
by a joyful bearer open-mouthed, its effect was such, 
that she fell like one who had been shot. She and 
Sir William had literally been made ill by their hopes 
and fears and joy at a catastrophe so far exceeding 
all that they had dared to hope for. Their admira- 
tion for the hero necessarily produced a degree of 
proportionate gratitude and affection ; and when 
their barge came alongside the " Vanguard," at the 
sight of Nelson, Lady Hamilton sprang up the ship's 
side, and exclaiming, " O God ! is it possible ! " fell 



LIFE OF NELSON. 171 

into his arms, — more, he says, like one dead than 
alive. He described the meeting as " terribly affect- 
ing." These friends had scarcely recovered from 
their tears, when the king, who went out to meet 
him three leagues in the royal barge, came on board 
and took him by the hand, calling him his deliverer 
and preserver ; from all the boats around he was 
saluted with the same appellations ; the multitude 
who surrounded him when he landed repeated the 
same enthusiastic cries ; and the lazzaroni displayed 
their joy by holding up birds in cages, and giving 
them their liberty as he passed. 

His birthday, which occurred a week after his 
arrival, was celebrated with one of the most splendid 
fetes ever beheld at Naples. But, notwithstanding 
the splendour with which he was encircled, and the 
flattering honours with which all ranks welcomed 
him, Nelson was fully sensible of the depravity, as 
well as weakness, of those by whom he was sur- 
rounded. " What precious moments," said he, " the 
courts of Naples and Vienna are losing ! Three 
months would liberate Italy ; but this court is so 
enervated, that the happy moment will be lost. I 
am very unwell ; and their miserable conduct is not 
likely to cool my irritable temper. It is a country of 
fiddlers and poets, whores and scoundrels." This 
sense of their ruinous weakness he always retained ; 
nor was he ever blind to the mingled folly and 
treachery of the Neapolitan ministers, and the com- 
plication of iniquities under which the country 
groaned : but he insensibly, under the influence of 



172 LIFE OF NELSON. 

Lady Hamilton, formed an affection for the court, to 
whose misgovernment the miserable condition of the 
country was so greatly to be imputed. 

The state of Naples may be described in few words. 
The king was one of the Spanish Bourbons. As the 
Caesars have shown us to what wickedness the moral 
nature of princes may be perverted, so in this family, 
the degradation to which their intellectual nature can 
be reduced has been not less conspicuously evinced. 
Ferdinand, like the rest of his race, was passionately 
fond of field-sports, and cared for nothing else. His 
queen had all the vices of the house of Austria, with 
little to mitigate, and nothing to ennoble them ; — pro- 
vided she could have her pleasures, and the king his 
sports, they cared not in what manner the revenue was 
raised or administered. Of course a system of favour- 
itism existed at court, and the vilest and most impudent 
corruption prevailed in every department of state, and 
in every branch of administration, from the highest to 
the lowest. It is only the institutions of Christianity, 
and the vicinity of better regulated states, which pre- 
vent kingdoms, under such circumstances of misrule 
from sinking into a barbarism like that of Turkey. A 
sense of better things was kept alive in some of the 
Neapolitans by literature, and by their intercourse with 
happier countries. These persons naturally looked to 
France, at the commencement of the Revolution ; and, 
during all the horrors of that Revolution, still cher- 
ished a hope, that, by the aid of France, they might 
be enabled to establish a new order of things in 
Naples. They were grievously mistaken in supposing 



LIFE OF NELSON. 173 

that the principles of liberty would ever be supported 
by France, but they were not mistaken in believing 
that no government could be worse than their own ; 
and, therefore, they considered any change as desir- 
able. In this opinion men of the most different 
characters agreed. Many of the nobles, who were 
not in favour, wished for a revolution, that they might 
obtain the ascendency to which they thought them- 
selves entitled : men of desperate fortunes desired it, 
in the hope of enriching themselves ; knaves and in- 
triguers sold themselves to the French, to promote 
it ; and a few enlightened men, and true lovers of 
their country, joined in the same cause from the 
purest and noblest motives. All these were con- 
founded under the common name of Jacobins ; and 
the Jacobins of the Continental kingdoms were re- 
garded by the English with more hatred than they 
deserved. They were classed with Philippe Egalite, 
Marat, and Herbert ; whereas they deserved rather 
to be ranked, if not with Locke, and Sidney, and 
Russell, at least with Argyle and Monmouth, and 
those who, having the same object as the prime 
movers of our own revolution, failed in their prema- 
ture, but not unworthy attempt. 

No circumstances could be more unfavourable to 
the best interests of Europe, than those which placed 
England in strict alliance with the superannuated 
and abominable governments of the Continent. The 
subjects of those governments who wished for free- 
dom thus became enemies to England, and dupes 
and agents of France. They looked to their own 



174 LIFE OF NELSON. 

grinding grievances, and did not see the danger with 
which the liberties of the world were threatened. 
England, on the other hand, saw the danger in its 
true magnitude, but was blind to these grievances, 
and found herself compelled to support systems which 
had formerly been equally the object of her abhor- 
rence and her contempt. This was the state of 
Nelson's mind : he knew that there could be no peace 
for Europe till the pride of France was humbled and 
her strength broken ; and he regarded all those who 
were the friends of France as traitors to the common 
cause, as well as to their own individual sovereigns. 
There are situations in which the most opposite and 
hostile parties may mean equally well, and yet act 
equally wrong. The court of Naples, unconscious of 
committing any crime by continuing the system of 
misrule to which they had succeeded, conceived that, 
in maintaining things as they were, they were main- 
taining their own rights, and preserving the people 
from such horrors as had been perpetrated in France. 
The Neapolitan revolutionists thought that, without 
a total change of system, any relief from the present 
evils was impossible, and they believed themselves 
justified in bringing about that change by any means. 
Both parties knew that it was the fixed intention of 
the French to revolutionise Naples. The revolution- 
ists supposed that it was for the purpose of establish- 
ing a free government : the court, and all disinterested 
persons, were perfectly aware that the enemy had 
no other object than conquest and plunder. 

The battle of the Nile shook the power of France. 



LIFE OF NELSON. 175 

Her most successful general and her finest army were 
blocked up in Egypt, hopeless, as it appeared, of 
return ; and the government was in the hands of 
men without talents, without character, and divided 
among themselves. Austria, whom Buonaparte had 
terrified into a peace at a time when constancy on 
her part would probably have led to his destruction, 
took advantage of the crisis to renew the war- 
Russia also was preparing to enter the field with un- 
broken forces ; led by a general, whose extraordinary 
military genius would have entitled him to a high 
and honourable rank in history, if it had not been 
sullied by all the ferocity of a barbarian. Naples, see- 
ing its destruction at hand, and thinking that the 
only means of averting it was by meeting the danger, 
after long vacillations, which were produced by the 
fears and weakness and treachery of its council, 
agreed at last to join this new coalition with a nu- 
merical force of 80,000 men. Nelson told the king, 
in plain terms, that he had his choice, either to 
advance, trusting to God for His blessing on a just 
cause, and prepared to die sword in hand, or to re- 
main quiet and be kicked out of his kingdom ; — one 
of these things must happen. The king made answer 
he would go on, and trust in God and Nelson ; and 
Nelson, who would else have returned to Egypt, for 
the purpose of destroying the French shipping in 
Alexandria, gave up his intention at the desire of the 
Neapolitan court, and resolved to remain on that 
station, in the hope that he might be useful to the 
movements of the army. He suspected also, with 



1 76 LIFE OF NELSON. 

reason, that the continuance of his fleet was so ear- 
nestly requested, because the royal family thought 
their persons would be safer, in case of any mishap, 
under the British flag than under their own. 

His first object was the recovery of Malta, an island 
which the King of Naples pretended to claim. The 
Maltese, whom the villainous knights of their order 
had betrayed to France, had taken up arms against 
their rapacious invaders, with a spirit and unanimity 
worthy of the highest praise. They blockaded the 
French garrison by land, and a small squadron, under 
Captain Ball, began to blockade them by sea on the 
1 2th of October. Twelve days afterwards Nelson 
arrived, and the little island of Gozo, dependent upon 
Malta, which had also been seized and garrisoned by 
the French, capitulated soon after his arrival, and 
was taken possession of by the British, in the name 
of His Sicilian Majesty, — a power who had no better 
claim to it than France. Having seen this effected, 
and reinforced Captain Ball, he left that able officer 
to perform a most arduous and important part, and 
returned himself to co-operate with the intended 
movements of the Neapolitans. 

General Mack was at the head of the Neapolitan 
troops; — all that is now doubtful concerning this 
man is, whether he was a coward or a traitor ; — at 
that time he was assiduously extolled as a most con- 
summate commander, to whom Europe might look 
for deliverance ; and when he was introduced by the 
king and queen to the British admiral, the queen said 
to him, " Be to us by land, general, what my hero 



LIFE OF NELSON. 177 

Nelson has been by sea." Mack, on his part, did 
not fail to praise the force which he was appointed 
to command : " It was," he said, " the finest army in 
Europe." Nelson agreed with him that there could 
not be finer men ; but when the general, at a review, 
so directed the operations of a mock fight, that, by 
an unhappy blunder, his own troops were surrounded 
instead of those of the enemy, he turned to his friends 
and exclaimed, with bitterness, that the fellow did 
not understand his business. Another circumstance, 
not less characteristic, confirmed Nelson in this judg- 
ment. " General Mack," said he, in one of his letters, 
" cannot move without five carriages ! I have formed 
my opinion. I heartily pray I may be mistaken." 

While Mack, at the head of 32,000 men, marched 
into the Roman state, 5000 Neapolitans were em- 
barked on board the British and Portuguese squadron, 
to take possession of Leghorn. This was effected 
without opposition ; and the Grand Duke of Tuscany, 
whose neutrality had been so outrageously violated 
by the French, was better satisfied with the measure 
than some of the Neapolitans themselves. Naselli, 
their general, refused to seize the French vessels at 
Leghorn, because he, and the Duke di Sangro, who 
was ambassador at the Tuscan court, maintained 
that the King of Naples was not at war with France. 
"What!" said Nelson, "has not the king received, 
as a conquest made by him, the republican flag 
taken at Gozo ? Is not his own flag flying there 
and at Malta, not only by his permission, but by 
his order? Is not his flag shot at every day by 
12 



178 LIFE OF NELSON. 

the French, and their shot returned from batteries 
which bear that flag ? Are not two frigates and a 
corvette placed under my orders, ready to fight the 
French, meet them where they may ? Has not the 
king sent publicly from Naples guns, mortars, &c, 
with officers and artillery, against the French in 
Malta? If these acts are not tantamount to any 
written paper, I give up all knowledge of what is 
war." This reasoning was of less avail than an 
argument addressed to the general's fears. Nelson 
told him, that if he permitted the many hundred 
French who were then in the mole to remain neutral, 
till they had a fair opportunity of being active, they 
had one sure resource, if all other schemes failed, 
which was tc set one vessel on fire ; the mole would 
be destroyed, probably the town also, and the port 
ruined for twenty years. This representation made 
Naselli agree to the half measure of laying an em- 
bargo on the vessels. Among them were a great 
number of French privateers, some of which were of 
such force as to threaten the greatest mischief to our 
commerce, and about seventy sail of vessels belong- 
ing to the Ligurian republic, as Genoa was now 
called, laden with corn, and ready to sail for Genoa 
and France, where their arrival would have expedited 
the entrance of more French troops into Italy. " The 
general," said Nelson, "saw, I believe, the conse- 
quence of permitting these vessels to depart in the 
same light as myself; but' there is this difference 
between us: he, prudently, and certainly safely, 
waits the orders of his court, taking no responsibility 



LIFE OF NELSON. 179 

on himself. I act from the circumstances of the 
moment, as I feel may be most advantageous for the 
cause which I serve, taking all responsibility on my- 
self." It was in vain to hope for anything vigorous 
or manly from such men as Nelson was compelled 
to act with. " The crews of the French ships, and 
their allies, were ordered to depart in two days. 
Four days elapsed, and nobody obeyed the order ; 
nor, in spite of the representations of the British 
minister, Mr. Windham, were any means taken to 
enforce it. The true Neapolitan shuffle, as Nelson 
called it, took place on all occasions. After an ab- 
sence of ten days he returned to Naples ; and receiv- 
ing intelligence there, from Mr. Windham, that the 
privateers were at last to be disarmed, the corn 
landed, and the crews sent away, he expressed his 
satisfaction at the news in characteristic language, 
saying, "So far I am content. The enemy will be 
distressed ; and, thank God, I shall get no money. 
The world, I know, think that money is our god ; 
and now they will be undeceived, as far as relates to 
us. Down, down with the French ! is my constant 
prayer." 

Odes, sonnets, and congratulatory poems of every 
description, were poured in upon Nelson on his arri- 
val at Naples. An Irish Franciscan, who was one 
of the poets, not being content with panegyric upon 
this occasion, ventured upon a flight of prophecy, and 
predicted that Lord Nelson would take Rome with 
his ships. His lordship reminded Father M'Cormick 
that ships could not ascend the Tiber; but the 



180 LIFE OF NELSON. 

father, who had probably forgotten this circumstance, 
met the objection with a bold front, and declared he 
saw that it would come to pass notwithstanding. 
Rejoicings of this kind were of short duration. The 
King of Naples was with the army which had en- 
tered Rome ; but the Castle of St. Angelo was held 
by the French, and 13,000 French were strongly 
posted in the Roman states at Castallana. Mack had 
marched against them with 20,000 men. Nelson 
saw that the event was doubtful, or rather, that there 
could be very little hope of the result. But the im- 
mediate fate of Naples, as he well knew, hung upon 
the issue. " If Mack is defeated," said he, "in four- 
teen days this country is lost ; for the emperor has 
not yet moved his army, and Naples has not the 
power of resisting the enemy. It was not a case of 
choice, but of necessity, which induced the king to 
march out of his kingdom, and not wait till the 
French had collected a force sufficient to drive him 
out of it in a week." He had no reliance upon the 
Neapolitan officers, who, as he described them, 
seemed frightened at a drawn sword or a loaded 
gun ; and he was perfectly aware of the conse- 
quences which the sluggish movements and deceitful 
policy of the Austrians were likely to bring down 
upon themselves, and all their Continental allies. 
" A delayed war, on the part of the emperor," said 
he, writing to the British minister at Vienna, " will 
be destructive to this monarchy of Naples ; and, of 
course, to the newly-acquired dominions of the 
emperor in Italy. Had the war commenced in Sep- 



LIFE OF NELSON. 181 

tember or October, all Italy would, at this moment, 
have been liberated. This month is worse than the 
last : the next will render the contest doubtful ; and 
in six months, when the Neapolitan Republic will be 
organised, armed, and with its numerous resources 
called forth, the emperor will not only be defeated 
in Italy, but will totter on his throne at Vienna. 
Down, down with the French ! ought to be written 
in the council-room of every country in the world ; 
and may Almighty God give right thoughts to every 
sovereign is my constant prayer." His perfect fore- 
sight of the immediate event was clearly shown in 
this letter, when he desired the ambassador to as- 
sure the empress (who was a daughter of the house 
of Naples), notwithstanding the councils which had 
shaken the throne of her father and mother, he 
would remain there, ready to save their persons, and 
her brothers, and sisters ; and that he had also left 
ships at Leghorn, to save the lives of the Grand Duke 
and her sister : " For all," said he, " must be a re- 
public, if the emperor does not act with expedition 
and vigour." 

His fears were soon verified. " The Neapolitan 
officers," said Nelson, "did not lose much honour, 
for, God knows, they had not much to lose ; but they 
lost all they had." General St. Philip commanded 
the right wing, of 19,000 men. He fell in with 3000 
of the enemy ; and, as soon as he came near enough, 
deserted to them. One of his men had virtue 
enough to level a musket at him, and shot him 
through the arm ; but the wound was not sufficient 



1 82 LIFE OF NELSON. 

to prevent him from joining with the French in pur- 
suit of his own countrymen. Cannon, tents, bag- 
gage, and military chest were all forsaken by the 
runaways, though they lost only forty men ; for the 
French, having put them to flight, and got possession 
of everything, did not pursue an army of more than 
three times their own number. The main body of 
the Neapolitans, under Mack, did not behave better. 
The king returned to Naples ; where every day 
brought with it the tidings of some new disgrace 
from the army, and the discovery of some new 
treachery at home ; till, four days after his return, 
the general sent him advice, that there was no pros- 
pect of stopping the progress of the enemy, and that 
the royal family must look to their own personal 
safety. The state of the public mind in Naples was 
such, at this time, that neither the British minister, 
nor the British admiral, thought it prudent to appear 
at court. Their motions were watched ; and the rev- 
olutionists had even formed a plan for seizing and 
detaining them as hostages, to prevent any attack 
upon the city after the French should have taken 
possession of it. A letter which Nelson addressed 
at this time to the First Lord of the Admiralty shows 
in what manner he contemplated the possible issue 
of the storm. It was in these words : — " My dear 
LORD, — There is an old saying, that when things are 
at the worst, they must mend. Now the mind of 
man cannot fancy things worse than they are here. 
But, thank God ! my health is better, my mind never 
firmer, and my heart in the right trim to comfort, 



LIFE OF NELSON. 183 

relieve, and protect those whom it is my duty to 
afford assistance to. Pray, my lord, assure our gra- 
cious sovereign, that, while I live, I will support his 
glory ; and that, if I fall, it shall be in a manner 
worthy of your lordship's faithful and obliged Nelson. 
I must not write more. Every word may be a text 
for a long letter." 

Meantime Lady Hamilton arranged everything for 
the removal of the royal family. This was conduct- 
ed, on her part, with the greatest address, and with- 
out suspicion, because she had been in habits of con- 
stant correspondence with the queen. It was known 
that the removal could not be effected without dan- 
ger ; for the mob, and especially the lazzaroni, were 
attached to the king ; and as, at this time, they felt 
a natural presumption in their own numbers and 
strength, they insisted that he should not leave 
Naples. Several persons fell victims to their fury ; 
among others was a messenger from Vienna, whose 
body was dragged under the windows of the palace 
in the king's sight. The king and queen spoke to the 
mob, and pacified them ; but it would not have been 
safe, while they were in this agitated state, to have 
embarked the effects of the royal family openly. 
Lady Hamilton, like a heroine of modern romance, 
explored, with no little danger, a subterranean pas- 
sage, leading from the palace to the seaside ; through 
this passage the royal treasures, the choicest pieces 
of painting and sculpture, and other property, to 
the amount of two millions and a half, were conveyed 
to the shore, and stowed safely on board the English 



1 84 LIFE OF NELSON. 

ships. On the night of the 21st, at half-past eight, 
Nelson landed, brought out the whole royal family, 
embarked them in three barges, and carried them 
safely, through a tremendous sea, to the " Vanguard." 
Notice was then immediately given to the British 
merchants, that they would be received on board any 
ship in the squadron. Their property had previously 
been embarked in transports. Two days were 
passed in the bay, for the purpose of taking such 
persons on board as required an asylum ; and on 
the night of the 23rd the fleet sailed. The next day 
a more violent storm arose than Nelson had ever 
before encountered. On the 25th, the youngest of 
the princes was taken ill, and died in Lady Hamil- 
ton's arms. During this whole trying season Lady 
Hamilton waited upon the royal family with the zeal 
of the most devoted servant, at a time when, except 
one man, no person belonging to the court assisted 
them. 

On the morning of the 26th the royal family were 
landed at Palermo. It was soon seen that their 
flight had not been premature. Prince Pignatelli, who 
had been left as vicar-general and viceroy, with 
orders to defend the kingdom to the last rock in 
Calabria, sent plenipotentiaries to the French camp 
before Capua ; and they, for the sake of saving the 
capital, signed an armistice, by which the greater 
part of the kingdom was given up to the enemy : a 
cession that necessarily led to the loss of the whole. 
This was on the 10th of January. The French ad- 
vanced toward Naples. Mack, under pretext of 



LIFE OF NELSON. 185 

taking shelter from the fury of the lazzaroni, fled to 
the French general Championet, who sent him under 
an escort to Milan ; but as France hoped for further 
services from this wretched traitor, it was thought 
prudent to treat him apparently as a prisoner of war. 
The Neapolitan army disappeared in a few days : of 
the men, some following their officers deserted to 
the enemy. The greater part took the opportunity 
of disbanding themselves. The lazzaroni proved 
true to their country. They attacked the enemy's 
advanced posts, drove them in, and were not dispirit- 
ed by the murderous defeat which they suffered from 
the main body. Flying into the city, they continued 
to defend it, even after the French had planted their 
artillery in the principal streets. Had there been a 
man of genius to have directed their enthusiasm, or 
had there been any correspondent feeling in the 
higher ranks, Naples might have set a glorious ex- 
ample to Europe, and have proved the grave of every 
Frenchman who entered it. But the vices of the 
Government had extinguished all other patriotism 
than that of a rabble, who had no other virtue than 
that sort of loyalty, which was like the fidelity of a 
dog to its master. This fidelity the French and their 
adherents counteracted by another kind of devotion. 
The priests affirmed that St. Januarius had declared 
in favor of the Revolution : the miracle of his blood 
was performed with the usual success, and more 
than usual effect, on the very evening when, after 
two days of desperate fighting, the French obtained 
possession of Naples. A French guard of honour 



186 LIFE OF NELSON. 



was stationed at his church. Championet gave " re 
spect for St. Januarius," as the ward for the army ; 
and the next day Te Deum was sung by the arch- 
bishop in the cathedral, and the inhabitants were in- 
vited to attend the ceremony, and join in thanksgiv- 
ing for the glorious entry of the French ; who, it was 
said, being under the peculiar protection of Provi- 
dence, had regenerated the Neapolitans, and were 
come to establish and consolidate their happiness. 

It seems to have been Nelson's opinion, that the 
Austrian cabinet regarded the conquest of Naples 
with complacency, and that its measures were di- 
rected so as designedly not to prevent the French 
from overrunning it. That cabinet was assuredly 
capable of any folly and of any baseness ; and it is 
not improbable that, at this time, calculating upon 
the success of the new coalition, it indulged a dream 
of adding extensively to its former Italian pos- 
sessions, and therefore left the few remaining powers 
of Italy to be overthrown, as a means which would 
facilitate its own ambitious views. The King of 
Sardinia, finding it impossible longer to endure the 
exactions of France and the insults of the French 
commissary, went to Leghorn, embarked on board a 
Danish frigate, and sailed, under British protection, 
to Sardinia ; that part of his dominions which the mari- 
time supremacy of England rendered a secure asy- 
lum. On his arrival he published a protest against 
the conduct of France ; declaring, upon the faith and 
word of a king, that he had never infringed, even in 
the slightest degree, the treaties which he had made 



: 



LIFE OF NELSON. 187 

with the French Republic. Tuscany was soon oc- 
cupied by French troops : a fate which bolder policy 
might, perhaps, have failed to avert, but which its 
weak and timid neutrality rendered inevitable. Nel- 
son began to fear even for Sicily. " Oh, my dear 
sir ! " said he, writing to Commodore Duckworth, 
" one thousand English troops would save Messina, — 
and I fear General Stuart cannot give me men to 
save this most important island ! " But his represen- 
tations were not lost upon Sir Charles Stuart. This 
officer hastened immediataly before Minorca, with a 
thousand men, assisted in the measures of defence 
which were taken, and did not return before he had 
satisfied himself that, if the Neapolitans were ex- 
cluded from the management of affairs, and the 
spirit of the peasantry properly directed, Sicily was 
safe. Before his coming, Nelson had offered the 
king, if no resources should arrive, to defend Messina 
with the ship's company of an English man-of-war. 

Russia had now entered into the war. Corfu sur- 
rendered to a Russian and Turkish fleet, acting now, 
for the first time, in strange confederacy ; yet against 
a power which was certainly the common and worst 
enemy of both. Trowbridge, having given up the 
blockade of Alexandria to Sir Sidney Smith, rejoined 
Nelson, bringing with him a considerable addition of 
strength ; and in himself, what Nelson valued more, 
a man, upon whose sagacity, indefatigable zeal, and 
inexhaustible resources, he could place full reliance. 
Trowbridge was entrusted to commence the opera- 
tions against the French in the Bay of Naples. Mean- 



1 88 LIFE OF NELSON. 

time Cardinal Ruffo, a man of questionable character, 
but of a temper fitted for such times, having landed 
in Calabria, raised what he called a Christian army, 
composed of the best and the vilest materials ; loyal 
peasants, enthusiastic priests and friars, galley slaves, 
the emptying of the jails, and banditti. The islands 
in the Bay of Naples were joyfully delivered up by 
the inhabitants, who were in a state of famine already, 
from the effect of this baleful revolution. Trowbridge 
distributed among them all his flour; and Nelson 
pressed the Sicilian court incessantly for supplies, 
telling them that ^100,000 given away in provisions 
would, at this time, purchase a kingdom. Money, he 
was told, they had not to give ; and the wisdom and 
integrity which might have supplied its want were not 
to be found. " There is nothing," said he, " which I 
propose, that is not, as far as orders go, implicitly 
complied with ; but the execution is dreadful, and 
almost makes me mad. My desire to serve their 
Majesties faithfully, as is my duty, has been such that 
I am almost blind and worn out, and cannot, in my 
present state, hold much longer." 

Before any government can be overthrown by the 
consent of the people, the government must be intoler- 
ably oppressive, or the people thoroughly corrupted. 
Bad as the misrule at Naples had been, its conse- 
quences had been felt far less there than in Sicily ; 
and the peasantry had that attachment to the soil 
which gives birth to so many of the noblest, as well 
as of the happiest, feelings. In all the islands the 
people were perfectly frantic with joy when they saw 



LIFE OF NELSON. 189 

the Neapolitan colours hoisted. At Procida Trow- 
bridge could not procure even a rag of the tri-coloured 
flag to lay at the king's feet ; — it was rent into ten 
thousand pieces by the inhabitants, and entirely de- 
stroyed. " The horrid treatment of the French," he 
said, "had made them mad." It exasperated the 
ferocity of a character, which neither the laws nor the 
religion under which they lived tended to mitigate. 
Their hatred was especially directed against the 
Neapolitan revolutionists ;— and the fishermen, in con- 
cert among themselves, chose each his own victim, 
whom he would stiletto when the day of vengeance 
should arrive. The head of one was sent off one 
morning to Trowbridge, with his basket of grapes for 
breakfast ; — and a note from the Italian, who had, 
what he called, the glory of presenting it, saying he 
had killed the man as he was running away, and beg- 
ging his Excellency to accept the head, and consider 
it as a proof of the writer's attachment to the crown. 
With the first successes of the court the work of 
punishment began. The Judge at Ischia said it was 
necessary to have a bishop to degrade the traitorous 
priests before he could execute them — upon which 
Trowbridge advised him to hang them first, and send 
them to him afterwards, if he did not think that de- 
gradation sufficient. This was said with the straight- 
forward feeling of a sailor, who cared as little for 
canon law as he knew about it ; but when he dis- 
covered that the judge's orders were to go through 
the business in a summary manner, under his sanc- 
tion, he told him at once that could not be, for the 



190 LIFE OF NELSON. 

prisoners were not British subjects ; and he declined 
having anything to do with it. There were mani- 
festly persons about the court who, while they thirsted 
for the pleasure of vengeance, were devising how to 
throw the odium of it upon the English. They 
wanted to employ an English man-of-war to carry the 
priests to Palermo, for degradation, and then bring 
them back for execution ; — and they applied to Trow- 
bridge for a hangman, which he indignantly refused. 
He, meantime, was almost heart-broken by the situa- 
tion in which he found himself. He had promised 
relief to the islanders, relying upon the queen's promise 
to him. He had distributed the whole of his private 
stock, — there was plenty of grain at Palermo, and in 
its neighbourhood, and yet none wa£ sent him ; — the 
enemy, he complained, had more interest there than 
the king ; and the distress for bread which he wit- 
nessed, was such, he said, that it would move even a 
Frenchman to pity. 

Nelson's mind was not in a happier state respecting 
public affairs. " As to politics," said he, " at this 
time they are my abomination : the ministers of kings 
and princes are as great scoundrels as ever lived. The 
brother of the emperor is just going to marry the 
great Something of Russia, and it is more than ex- 
pected that a kingdom is to be found for him in Italy, 
and that the King of Naples will be sacrificed." Had 
there been a wise and manly spirit in the Italian 
states, or had the conduct of Austria been directed 
by anything like a principle of honour, a more favour- 
able opportunity could not have been desired, for 



LIFE OF NELSON. 191 

restoring order and prosperity in Europe, than the 
misconduct of the French directory at this time 
afforded. But Nelson saw selfishness and knavery 
wherever he looked ; and even the pleasure of seeing 
a cause prosper, in which he was so zealously engaged, 
was poisoned by his sense of the rascality of those 
with whom he was compelled to act. At this junc- 
ture intelligence arrived that the French fleet had 
escaped from Brest, under cover of a fog, passed 
Cadiz, unseen by Lord Keith's squadron, in hazy 
weather, and entered the Mediterranean. It was said 
to consist of twenty-four sail of the line, six frigates, 
and three sloops. The object of the French was to 
liberate the Spanish fleet, form a junction with them, 
act against Minorca and Sicily, and overpower our 
naval force in the Mediterranean, by falling in with 
detached squadrons, and thus destroying it in detail. 
When they arrived off Carthagena, they requested the 
Spanish ships to make sail and join : but the Span- 
iards replied, they had not men to man them. To 
this it was answered, that the French had men enough 
on board for that purpose. But the Spaniards seem 
to have been apprehensive of delivering up their 
ships thus entirely into the power of such allies, and 
refused to come out. The fleet from Cadiz, however, 
consisting of from seventeen to twenty sail of the 
line, got out, under Masarredo, a man who then bore 
an honourable name, which he has since rendered in- 
famous by betraying his country. They met with a 
violent storm off the coast of Oran, which dismasted 
many of their ships, and so effectually disabled them, 



192 LIFE OF NELSON. 

as to prevent the junction, and frustrate a well- 
planned expedition. 

Before this occurred, and while the junction was as 
probable as it would have been formidable, Nelson 
was in a state of the greatest anxiety. " What a 
state am I in ! " said he to Earl St. Vincent. " If I 
go, I risk, and more than risk, Sicily ; for we know, 
from experience, that more depends upon opinion 
than upon acts themselves ; and as I stay, my heart 
is breaking." His first business was to summon 
Trowbridge to join him, with all the ships of the line 
under his command, and a frigate, if possible. Then 
hearing that the French had entered the Mediter- 
ranean, and expecting them at Palermo, where he 
had only his own ship — with that single ship he pre- 
pared to make all the resistance possible. Trow- 
bridge having joined him, he left Captain E. J. Foote, 
of the " Seahorse," to command the smaller vessels 
in the Bay of Naples, and sailed with six ships — one 
a Portuguese, and a Portuguese corvette — telling 
Earl St. Vincent that the squadron should never fall 
into the hands of the enemy : " And before we are 
destroyed," said he, " I have little doubt but they 
will have their wings so completely clipped that they 
may be easily overtaken." It was just at this time 
that he received from Captain Hallowell the present 
of the coffin. Such a present was regarded by the 
men with natural astonishment ; one of his old ship- 
mates in the " Agamemnon " said — " We shall have 
hot work of it indeed ! You see the admiral intends 
to fight till he is killed ; and there he is to be buried." 



LIFE OF NELSON. 193 

Nelson placed it upright, against the bulkhead of his 
cabin, behind his chair where he sat at dinner. The 
gift suited him at this time. It is said that he was 
disappointed in the son-in-law whom he had loved 
so dearly from his childhood, and who had saved his 
life at Teneriffe ; and it is certain that he had now 
formed an infatuated attachment for Lady Hamilton, 
which totally weaned his affections from his wife. 
Farther than this, there is no reason to believe that 
this most unfortunate attachment was criminal : — 
but this was criminality enough, and it brought with 
it its punishment. Nelson was dissatisfied with him- 
self ; and, therefore, weary of the world. This feel- 
ing he now frequently expressed. " There is no true 
happiness in this life," said he ; " and in my present 
state I could quit it with a smile." And in a letter 
to his old friend Davison, he said, " Believe me, my 
only wish is to sink with honour into the grave ; and 
when that shall please God, I shall meet death with 
a smile. Not that I am insensible to the honours 
and riches my king and country have heaped upon 
me, — so much more than any officer could deserve ; 
yet am I ready to quit this world of trouble, and envy 
none but those of the estate six feet by two." 

Well had it been for Nelson if he had made no 
other sacrifices to this unhappy attachment than his 
peace of mind ; but it led to the only blot upon his 
public character. While he sailed from Palermo, with 
the intention of collecting his whole force, and keep- 
ing off Maretimo, either to receive reinforcements 
there, if the French were bound upwards, or to hasten 
13 



194 LIFE OF NELSON. 

to Minorca, if that should be their destination, Cap- 
tain Foote, in the " Seahorse," with the Neapolitan 
frigates, and some small vessels, under his command, 
was left to act with a land force, consisting of a few 
regular troops, of four different nations, and with the 
armed rabble which Cardinal Ruffo called the Chris- 
tian army. His directions were to co-operate to the 
utmost of his power with the royalists, at whose head 
Ruffo had been placed, and he had no other instruc- 
tions whatever. Ruffo advancing, without any plan, 
but relying upon the enemy's want of numbers, which 
prevented them from attempting to act upon the 
offensive, and ready to take advantage of any acci- 
dent which might occur, approached Naples. Fort 
St. Elmo, which commands the town, was wholly 
garrisoned by French troops ; the Castles of Uovo 
and Nuovo, which commanded the anchorage, were 
chiefly defended by Neapolitan revolutionists, the 
powerful men among them having taken shelter 
there. If these castles were taken, the reduction 
of Fort St. Elmo would be greatly expedited. 
They were strong places, and there was reason to 
apprehend that the French fleet might arrive to re- 
lieve them. Ruffo proposed to the garrison to capit- 
ulate, on condition that their persons and property 
should be guaranteed, and that they should, at their 
own option, either be sent to Toulon, or remain at 
Naples, without being molested either in their persons 
or families. This capitulation was accepted : it was 
signed by the cardinal, and the Russian and Turkish 
commanders, and lastly, by Captain Foote, as com- 



LIFE OF NELSON. 195 

mander of the British force. About six and thirty 
hours afterwards Nelson arrived in the bay, with a 
force, which had joined him during his cruise, con- 
sisting of seventeen sail of the line, with 1700 troops 
on board, and the Prince Royal of Naples in the ad- 
miral's ship. A flag of truce was flying on the castles, 
and on board the " Seahorse." Nelson made a signal 
to annul the treaty ; declaring that he would grant 
rebels no other terms than those of unconditional 
submission. The cardinal objected to this : nor 
could all the arguments of Nelson, Sir W. Hamilton, 
and Lady Hamilton, who took an active part in the 
conference, convince him that a treaty of such a nature, 
solemnly concluded, could honourably be set aside. 
He retired at last, silenced by Nelson's authority, 
but not convinced. Captain Foote was sent out of 
the bay ; and the garrisons, taken out of the castles, 
under pretence of carrying the treaty into effect, 
were delivered over as rebels to the vengeance of the 
Sicilian court. — A deplorable transaction ! A stain 
upon the memory of Nelson, and the honour of Eng- 
land ! To palliate it would be in vain ; to justify it 
would be wicked : there is no alternative, for one 
who will not make himself a participator in guilt, 
but to record the disgraceful story with sorrow and 
with shame. 

Prince Francesco Caraccioli, a younger branch of 
one of the noblest Neapolitan families, escaped from 
one of these castles before it capitulated. He was 
at the head of the marine, and was nearly seventy 
years of age, bearing a high character, both for pro- 



196 LIFE OF NELSON. 

fessional and personal merit. He had accompanied 
the Court to Sicily ; but when the revolutionary 
government, or Parthenopaean Republic, as it was 
called, issued an edict, ordering all absent Neapoli- 
tans to return, on pain of confiscation of their prop- 
erty, he solicited and obtained permission of the king 
to return, his estates being very great. It is said 
that the king, when he granted him this permission, 
warned him not to take any part in politics ; express- 
ing, at the same time, his own persuasion that he 
should recover his kingdom. But neither the king, 
nor he himself, ought to have imagined that, in such 
times, a man of such reputation would be permitted 
to remain inactive ; and it soon appeared that Carac- 
cioli was again in command of the navy, and serving 
under the republic against his late sovereign. The 
sailors reported that he was forced to act thus : and 
this was believed, till it was seen that he directed 
ably the offensive operations of the revolutionists, 
and did not avail himself of opportunities for escap- 
ing when they offered. When the recovery of Naples 
was evidently near, he applied to Cardinal Ruffo, 
and to the Duke of Calvirrano, for protection ; ex- 
pressing his hope that the few days during which 
he had been forced to obey the French, would not 
outweigh forty years of faithful services : — but, per- 
haps not receiving such assurances as he wished, 
and knowing too well the temper of the Sicilian 
court, he endeavoured to secrete himself, and a price 
was set upon his head. More unfortunately for 
others than for himself, he was brought in alive, 



LIFE OF NELSON. 197 

having been discovered in the disguise of a peasant, 
and carried one morning on board Lord Nelson's 
ship, with his hands tied behind him. 

Caraccioli was well known to the British officers, 
and had been ever highly esteemed by all who knew 
him. Captain Hardy ordered him immediately to be 
unbound, and to be treated with all those attentions 
which he felt due to a man who, when last on board 
the " Foudroyant," had been received as an admiral 
and a prince. Sir William and Lady Hamilton were 
in the ship ; but Nelson, it is affirmed, saw no one 
except his own officers, during the tragedy which 
ensued. His own determination was made ; and he 
issued an order to the Neapolitan commodore, Count 
Thurn, to assemble a court-martial of Neapolitan 
officers, on board the British flag-ship, proceed im- 
mediately to try the prisoner, and report to him, if 
the charges were proved, w r hat punishment he ought 
to suffer. These proceedings were as rapid as possi- 
ble : Caraccioli was brought on board at nine in the 
forenoon, and the trial began at ten. It lasted two 
hours : he averred in his defence that he had acted 
under compulsion, having been compelled to serve 
as a common soldier till he consented to take com- 
mand of the fleet. This, the apologists of Lord 
Nelson say he failed in proving. They forget that 
the possibility of proving it was not allowed him; 
for he was brought to trial within an hour after he 
was legally in arrest ; and how, in that time, was he 
to collect his witnesses ? He was found guilty, and 
sentenced to death ; and Nelson gave orders that the 



198 LIFE OF NELSON. 



sentence should be carried into effect that evening, 
at five o'clock, on board the Sicilian frigate " La 
Minerva," by hanging him at the fore-yard-arm till 
sunset ; when the body was to be cut down and 
thrown into the sea. Caraccioli requested Lieutenant 
Parkinson, under whose custody he was placed, to 
intercede with Lord Nelson for a second trial, — for 
this, among other reasons, that Count Thurn, who 
presided at the court-martial, was notoriously his 
personal enemy. Nelson made answer, that the 
prisoner had been fairly tried by the officers of his 
own country, and he could not interfere : forgetting 
that, if he felt himself justified in ordering the trial 
and the execution, no human being could ever have 
questioned the propriety of his interfering on the side 
of mercy. Caraccioli then entreated that he might 
be shot. — " I am an old man, sir," said he ; "I leave 
no family to lament me, and therefore cannot be 
supposed to be very anxious about prolonging my life ; 
but the disgrace of being hanged is dreadful to me." 
When this was repeated to Nelson, he only told the 
lieutenant, with much agitation, to go and attend his 
duty. As a last hope, Caraccioli asked the lieutenant 
if he thought an application to Lady Hamilton would 
be beneficial ; Parkinson went to seek her : she was 
not to be seen on this occasion, — but she was present 
at the execution. She had the most devoted attach- 
ment to the Neapolitan court ; and the hatred which 
she felt against those whom she regarded as its 
enemies made her, at this time, forget what was due 
to the character of her sex as well as of her country. 



. 



LIFE OF NELSON. 199 

Here, also, a faithful historian is called upon to pro- 
nounce a severe and unqualified condemnation of 
Nelson's conduct. Had he the authority of His Si- 
cilian Majesty for proceeding as he did ? If so, why 
was not that authority produced ? If not, why were 
the proceedings hurried on without it ? Why was 
the trial precipitated, so that it was impossible for 
the prisoner, if he had been innocent, to provide the 
witnesses who might have proved him so ? Why 
was a second trial refused, when the known animosity 
of the president of the court against the prisoner was 
considered ? Why was the execution hastened so as 
to preclude any appeal for mercy, and render the 
prerogative of mercy useless ? — Doubtless the British 
admiral seems to himself to be acting under a rigid 
sense of justice ; but, to all other persons, it was 
obvious that he was influenced by an infatuated 
attachment, — a baneful passion, which destroyed his 
domestic happiness, and now, in a second instance, 
stained ineffaceably his public character. 

The body was carried out to a considerable dis- 
tance, and sunk in the bay, with three double-headed 
shot, weighing 250 pounds, tied to its legs. Be- 
tween two and three weeks afterwards, when the 
king was on board the " Foudroyant," a Neapolitan 
fisherman came to the ship and solemnly declared 
that Caraccioli had risen from the bottom of the sea, 
and was coming as fast as he could to Naples, 
swimming half out of the w T ater. Such an account 
was listened to like a tale of idle credulity. The day 
being fair, Nelson, to please the king stood out to 



200 LIFE OF NELSON. 

sea ; but the ship had not proceeded far before 
a body was distinctly seen, upright in the water, and 
approaching them. It was soon recognised to be, 
indeed, the corpse of Caraccioli, which had risen, 
and floated, while the great weights attached to the 
legs kept the body in a position like that of a living 
man. A fact so extraordinary astonished the king, 
and perhaps excited some feelings of superstitious 
fear, akin to regret. He gave permission for the 
body to be taken on shore, and receive Christian 
burial. It produced no better effect. Naples exhib- 
ited more dreadful scenes than it had witnessed in 
the days of Massaniello. After the mob had had 
their fill of blood and plunder, the reins were given 
to justice ; — if that can be called justice which annuls 
its own stipulations, looks to the naked facts alone, 
disregarding all motives and all circumstances ; and, 
without considering character or science, or sex, or 
youth, sacrifices its victims, not for the public weal, 
but for the gratification of greedy vengeance. 

The Castles of St. Elmo, Gaieta, and Capua re- 
mained to be subdued. On the land side there was 
no danger that the French in these garrisons should 
be relieved, for Suvorof was now beginning to drive 
the enemy before him ; but Nelson thought his pres- 
ence necessary in the Bay of Naples : and when 
Lord Keith, having received intelligence that the 
French and Spanish fleets had formed a junction, 
and sailed for Carthagena, ordered him to repair to 
Minorca, with the whole, or the greater part of his 
force, he sent Admiral Duckworth with a small part 



LIFE OF NELSON. 201 

only. This was a dilemma which he had foreseen. 
"Should such an order come at this moment," he 
said, in a letter previously written to the Admiralty, 
" it would be a case for some consideration, whether 
Minorca is to be risked, or the two kingdoms of 
Naples and Sicily. I rather think my decision would 
be to risk the former." And, after he had acted up- 
on this opinion, he wrote in these terms to the Duke 
of Clarence, with whose high notions of obedience he 
was well acquainted : " I am well aware of the con- 
sequences of disobeying my orders ; but as I have 
often before risked my life for the good cause, so, I, 
with cheerfulness, did my commission ; for, although 
a military tribunal may think me criminal, the world 
will approve of my conduct : and I regard not my 
own safety when the honour of my king is at stake." 
Nelson was right in his judgment, no attempt was 
made upon Minorca ; and the expulsion of the French 
from Naples may rather be said to have been affected, 
than accelerated, by the English and Portuguese of 
the allied fleet, acting upon shore, under Trowbridge. 
The French commandant at St. Elmo, relying upon 
the strength of the place, and the nature of the force 
which attacked it, had insulted Captain Foote in the 
grossest terms : but citoyen Mejan was soon taught 
better manners, when Trowbridge, in spite of every 
obstacle, opened five batteries upon the fort. He 
was informed that none of his letters, with the inso- 
lent printed words at the top, Liberty Eg a lite, 
Guerre aux Tyrans, &c, would be received ; but 
that, if he wrote like a soldier and a gentleman, he 



202 LIFE OF NELSON. 

should be answered in the same style. The French- 
man then began to flatter his antagonist upon the 
bienfaisance and humanite, which were the least of 
the many virtues which distinguished Monsieur 
Trowbridge. Monsieur Trowbridge's bienfaisance 
was, at this time, thinking of mining the fort. " If 
we can accomplish that," said he, " I am a strong 
advocate to send them, hostages and all, to Old Nick, 
and surprise him with a group of nobility and repub- 
licans. Meantime," he added, " it was some satisfac- 
tion to perceive that the shells fell well, and broke 
some of their shins." Finally, to complete his char- 
acter, Mejan offered to surrender for 150,000 ducats. 
Great Britain, perhaps, has made too little use of this 
kind of artillery, which France has found so effectual 
towards subjugating the continent : but Trowbridge 
had the prey within his reach ; and, in the course of 
a few days, his last battery, " after much trouble and 
palaver," as he said, " brought the vagabonds to 
their senses." 

Trowbridge had more difficulties to overcome in 
this siege, from the character of the Neapolitans who 
pretended to assist him, and whom he made useful, 
than even from the strength of the place and the skill 
of the French. " Such damned cowards and villains," 
he declared, " he had never seen before." The men 
at the advanced posts carried on, what he called, " a 
diabolical good understanding " with the enemy, and 
the workmen would sometimes take fright and run 
away. " I make the best I can," said he, " of the de- 
generate race I have to deal with : the whole means 



LIFE OF NELSON. 203 

of guns, ammunition, pioneers, &c, with all mate- 
rials, rest with them. With fair promises to the men, 
and threats of instant death if I find any one erring, 
a little spur has been given." Nelson said of him, 
with truth, upon this occasion, that he was a first- 
rate general. " I find, sir," said he afterwards, in a 
letter to the Duke of Clarence, " that General Koehler 
does not approve of such irregular proceedings as 
naval officers attacking and defending fortifications. 
We have but one idea, — to get close alongside. 
None but a sailor would have placed a battery only 
180 yards from the Castle of St. Elmo: a soldier 

must have gone according to art, and the way. 

My brave Trowbridge went straight on, for we had 
no time to spare." 

Trowbridge then proceeded to Capua, and took the 
command of the motley besieging force. One thou- 
sand of the best men of the fleet were sent to assist in 
the siege. Just at this time Nelson received a per- 
emptory order from Lord Keith, to sail with the 
whole of his force for the protection of Minorca ; or, 
at least, to retain no more than was absolutely neces- 
sary at Sicily. " You will easily conceive my feel- 
ings," said he, in communicating this to Earl St. 
Vincent : " but my mind, as your lordship knows, 
was perfectly prepared for this order ; and it is now, 
more than ever, made up. At this moment I will 
not part with a single ship ; as I cannot do that 
without drawing a hundred and twenty men from 
each ship, now at the siege of Capua. I am fully 
aware of the act I have committed ; but I am pre- 



204 LIFE OF NELSON. 

pared for any fate which may await my disobedience. 
Capua and Gaieta will soon fall ; and the moment 
the scoundrels of French are out of this kingdom I 
shall send eight or nine ships of the line to Minorca. 
I have done what I thought right : others may think 
differently : but it will be my consolation that I have 
gained a kingdom, seated a faithful ally of His 
Majesty firmly on his throne, and restored happiness 
to millions." 

At Capua, Trowbridge had the same difficulties as 
at St. Elmo ; and being farther from Naples, and 
from the fleet, was less able to overcome them. The 
powder was so bad that he suspected treachery ; and 
when he asked Nelson to spare him forty casks from 
the ships, he told him it would be necessary that 
some Englishmen should accompany it, or they 
would steal one-half and change the other. "Every 
man you see," said he, " gentle and simple, are such 
notorious villains, that it is misery to be with them." 
Capua, however, soon fell. Gaieta immediately 
afterwards surrendered to Captain Louis, of the 
" Minotaur." Here the commanding officer acted 
more unlike a Frenchman, Captain Louis said, than 
any one he had ever met ; meaning that he acted 
like a man of honour. He required, however, that 
the garrison should carry away their horses and 
other pillaged property, to which Nelson replied, 
"that no property which they did not bring with 
them into the country could be theirs, and that the 
greatest care should be taken to prevent them from 
carrying it away." — " I am sorry," said he to Captain 



LIFE OF NELSON. 205 

Louis, " that you have entered into any altercation. 
There is no way of dealing with a Frenchman but to 
knock him down — to be civil to them is only to be 
laughed at, when they are enemies." 

The whole kingdom of Naples was thus delivered 
by Nelson from the French. The Admiralty, how- 
ever, thought it expedient to censure him for disobey- 
ing Lord Keith's orders, and thus hazarding Minorca, 
without, as it appeared to them, any sufficient reason ; 
and also for having landed seamen for the siege of 
Capua, to form part of an army employed in opera- 
tions at a distance from the coast, where, in case of 
defeat, they might have been prevented from return- 
ing to their ships ; and they enjoined him " not to 
employ the seamen in like manner in future." This 
reprimand was issued before the event was known : 
though, indeed, the event would not affect the princi- 
ple upon which it proceeded. When Nelson commu- 
nicated the tidings of his complete success, he said, 
in his public letter, " that it would not be the less ac- 
ceptable for having been principally brought about 
by British sailors." His judgment in thus employing 
them had been justified by the result ; and his joy 
was evidently heightened by the gratification of a 
professional and becoming pride. To the First Lord 
he said, at the same time, " I certainly, from having 
only a left hand, cannot enter into details which may 
explain the motives that actuated my conduct. My 
principle is. to assist in driving the French to the 
devil, and in restoring peace and happiness to man- 
kind. I feel that I am fitter to do the action than to 



206 LIFE OF NELSON. 

describe it." He then added, that he would take 
care of Minorca. 

In expelling the French from Naples, Nelson had, 
with characteristic zeal and ability, discharged his 
duty ; but he deceived himself when he imagined 
that he had seated Ferdinand firmly on his throne, 
and that he had restored happiness to millions. These 
objects might have been accomplished if it had been 
possible to inspire virtue and wisdom into a vicious 
and infatuated court ; and if Nelson's eyes had not 
been, as it were, spellbound by that unhappy, attach- 
ment, which had now completely mastered him, he 
would have seen things as they were ; and might, 
perhaps, have awakened the Sicilian court to a sense 
of their interest, if not of their duty. That court 
employed itself in a miserable round of folly and fes- 
tivity, while the prisons of Naples were filled with 
groans, and the scaffolds streamed with blood. St. 
Januarius was solemnly removed from his rank as 
patron saint of the kingdom, having been convicted 
of Jacobinism and St. Antonio as solemnly installed 
in his place. The king, instead of re-establishing 
order at Naples by his presence, speedily returned to 
Palermo to indulge in his favorite amusements. Nel- 
son and the ambassador's family accompanied the 
court, and Trowbridge remained, groaning over the 
villainy and frivolity of those with whom he was com- 
pelled to deal. A party of officers applied to him for 
a passage to Palermo, to see the procession of St. 
Rosalia : — he recommended them to exercise their 
troops, and not behave like children. It was grief 



LIFE OF NELSON. 207 

enough for him that the court should be busied in 
these follies, and Nelson involved in them. " I dread, 
my lord," said he, " all the feasting, &c., at Palermo* 
I am sure your health will be hurt. If so, all their 
saints will be damned by the navy. The king would 
be better employed digesting a good government. 
Everything gives way to their pleasures. The money 
spent at Palermo gives discontent here : fifty thou- 
sand people are unemployed, trade discouraged* 
manufactures at a stand. It is the interest of many 
here to keep the king away ; — they all dread re- 
form : — their villanies are so deeply rooted, that, if 
some method is not taken to dig them out, this Gov- 
ernment cannot hold together. Out of twenty mil- 
lions of ducats, collected as the revenue, only thirteen 
millions reach the treasury, and the king pays four 
ducats where he should pay one. He is surrounded 
by thieves ; and none of them have honour or honesty 
enough to tell him the real and true state of things." 
In another letter he expressed his sense of the miser- 
able state of Naples. "There are upwards of forty 
thousand families," said he, " who have relations con- 
fined. If some act of oblivion is not passed, there 
will be no end of persecution ; for the people of this 
country have no idea of anything but revenge ; and 
to gain a point would swear ten thousand false oaths. 
Constant efforts are made to get a man taken up in 
order to rob him. The confiscated property does 
not reach the king's treasury. — All thieves ! It is 
selling for nothing. His own people, whom he em- 
ploys, are buying it up, and the vagabonds pocket 



208 LIFE OF NELSON. 

the whole. I should not be surprised to hear that 
they brought a bill of expenses against him for the 
sale." 

The Sicilian court, however, were at this time duly 
sensible of the services which had been rendered 
them by the British fleet, and their gratitude to Nel- 
son was shown with proper and princely munificence. 
They gave him the dukedom and domain of Bronte, 
worth about ^3000 a year. It was some days before 
he could be persuaded to accept it : the argument 
which finally prevailed is said to have been suggested 
by the queen, and urged, at her request — by Lady 
Hamilton upon her knees. " He considered his own 
honour too much," she said, " if he persisted in re- 
fusing what the king and queen felt to be absolutely 
necessary for the preservation of theirs." The king 
himself also is said to have addressed him in words, 
which show that the sense of rank will sometimes 
confer a virtue upon those who seem to be most un- 
worthy of the lot to which they have been born : — 
" Lord Nelson, do you wish that your name alone 
should pass with honour to posterity; and that I, 
Ferdinand Bourbon, should appear ungrateful ? " 
He gave him also, when the dukedom was accepted, 
a diamond-hilted sword which his father, Charles III. 
of Spain, had given him on his accession to the throne 
of the Two Sicilies. Nelson said, " the reward was 
magnificent, and worthy of a king, and he was de- 
termined that the inhabitants on the domain should 
be the happiest in all His Sicilian Majesty's domin- 
ions. — Yet," said he, speaking of these, and the other 



LIFE OF NELSON. 209 

remunerations which were made him for his services, 
" these presents, rich as they are, do not elevate me. 
My pride is, that at Constantinople, from the Grand 
Seignior to the lowest Turk, the name of Nelson is 
familiar in their mouths ; and in this country I am 
everything which a grateful monarch and people can 
call me." Nelson, however, had a pardonable pride in 
the outward and visible signs of honour which he had 
so fairly won ; he was fond of his Sicilian title ; the sig- 
nification, perhaps, pleased him. Duke of Thunder 
was what in Dahomey would be called a strong 
name ; it was to a sailor's taste ; and, certainly, to 
no man could it ever be more applicable. But a 
simple offering, which he received, not long after- 
wards, from the island of Zante, affected him with a 
deeper and finer feeling. The Greeks of that little 
community sent him a golden-headed sword, and a 
truncheon, set round with all the diamonds that the 
island could furnish, in a single row. They thanked 
him " for having, by his victory, preserved that part 
of Greece from the horrors of anarchy ; and prayed 
that his exploits might accelerate the day in which, 
amidst the glory and peace of thrones, the miseries 
of the human race would cease." This unexpected 
tribute touched Nelson to the heart. " No officer," he 
said, " had ever received from any country a higher 
acknowledgment of his services." 

The French still occupied the Roman states ; from 

which, according to their own admission, they had 

extorted, in jewels, plate, specie, and requisitions of 

every kind, to the enormous amount of eight millions 

14 



210 LIFE OF NELSON. 

sterling : yet they affected to appear as deliverers 
among the people whom they were thus cruelly 
plundering ; and they distributed portraits of Buona- 
parte, with the blasphemous inscription — " This is 
the true likeness of the holy saviour of the world !" 
The people, detesting the impiety, and groaning 
beneath the exactions of these perfidious robbers, 
were ready to join any regular force that should come 
to their assistance ; but they dreaded Cardinal Ruffo's 
rabble, and declared they would resist them as 
banditti, who came only for the purpose of pillage. 
Nelson perceived that no object was now so essential 
for the tranquillity of Naples as the recovery of Rome, 
which, in the present state of things, when Suvarof 
was driving the French before him, would complete 
the deliverance of Italy. He applied, therefore, to 
Sir James St. Clair Erskine, who, in the absence of 
General Fox, commanded at Minorca, to assist in this 
great object with 1200 men. "The field of glory," 
said he, " is a large one, and was never more open to 
any one than at this moment to you. Rome would 
throw open her gates, and receive you as her deliverer ; 
and the Pope would owe his restoration to a heretic." 
But Sir James Erskine looked only at the difficulties of 
the undertaking. " Twelve hundred men, he thought, 
would be too small a force to be committed in such 
an enterprise ; for Civita Vecchia was a regular for- 
tress ; — the local situation and climate also were 
such, that, even if this force were adequate, it would 
be proper to delay the expedition till October. Gen- 
eral Fox, too, was soon expected ; and during his 






LIFE OF NELSON. 211 

absence, and under existing circumstances, he did 
not feel justified in sending- away such a detachment." 
What this general thought it imprudent to attempt, 
Nelson and Trowbridge effected without his assist- 
ance by a small detachment from the fleet. Trow- 
bridge first sent Captain Hallowell to Civita Vecchia, 
to offer the garrison there, and at Castle St. Angelo, 
the same terms which had been granted to Gaieta. 
Hallowell perceived, by the overstrained civility of the 
officers who came off to him, and the compliments 
which they paid to the English nation, that they were 
sensible of their own weakness, and their inability to 
offer any effectual resistance ; but the French know, 
that while they are in a condition to serve their 
Government, they can rely upon it for every possible 
exertion in their support ; and this reliance gives them 
hope and confidence to the last. Upon Hallowell's 
report, Trowbridge, who had now been made Sir 
Thomas for his services, sent Captain Louis, with a 
squadron, to enforce the terms which he had offered ; 
and, as soon as he could leave Naples, he himself fol- 
lowed. The French, who had no longer any hope 
from the fate of arms, relied upon their skill in nego- 
tiation, and proposed terms to Trowbridge with that 
effrontery which characterises their public proceed- 
ings, but which is often as successful as it is impu- 
dent. They had a man of the right stamp to deal 
with. Their ambassador at Rome began by saying, 
that the Roman territory was the property of the 
French by right of conquest. The British commo- 
dore settled that point, by replying, " It is mine by 



212 LIFE OF NELSON. 

reconquest." A capitulation was soon concluded for 
all the Roman states, and Captain Louis rowed up 
the Tiber in his barge, hoisted English colours on 
the capitol, and acted, for the time, as governor of 
Rome. The prophecy of the Irish poet was thus 
accomplished, and the friar reaped the fruits : for 
Nelson, who was struck with the oddity of the cir- 
cumstance, and not a little pleased with it, obtained 
preferment for him from the King of Sicily, and 
recommended him to the Pope. 

Having thus completed his work upon the con- 
tinent of Italy, Nelson's whole attention was directed 
towards Malta ; where Captain Ball, with most in- 
adequate means, was besieging the French garrison. 
Never was any officer engaged in a more anxious and 
painful service : the smallest reinforcement from 
France would, at any moment, have turned the scale 
against him : and had it not been for his consummate 
ability, and the love and veneration with which the 
Maltese regarded him, Malta must have remained in 
the hands of the enemy. Men, money, food, — all 
things were wanting. The garrison consisted of five 
thousand troops — the besieging force of five hun- 
dred English and Portuguese marines, and about 
fifteen hundred armed peasants. Long and re- 
peatedly did Nelson solicit troops to effect the reduc- 
tion of this important place. " It has been no fault 
of the navy," said he, "that Malta has not been 
attacked by land ; but we have neither the means 
ourselves nor influence with those who have." The 
same causes of demurral existed which prevented 



LIFE OF NELSON. 213 

British troops from assisting in the expulsion of the 
French from Rome. Sir James Erskine was expect- 
ing General Fox, he could not act without orders; 
and not having, like Nelson, that lively spring of hope 
within him, which partakes enough of the nature of 
faith to work miracles in war, he thought it " evident, 
that unless a respectable land force, in numbers suf- 
ficient to undertake the siege of such a garrison, in 
one of the strongest places of Europe, and supplied 
with proportionate artillery and stores, were sent 
against it, no reasonable hope could be entertained 
of its surrender." Nelson groaned over the spirit of 
over-reasoning caution, and unreasoning obedience. 
"My heart," said he, "is almost broken. If the 
enemy get supplies in, we may bid adieu to Malta : — 
all the force we can collect would then be of little 
use against the strongest place in Europe. To say 
that an officer is never, for any object, to alter his 
orders, is what I cannot comprehend. The circum- 
stances of this war so often vary, that an officer has 
almost every moment to consider, what would my 
superiors direct did they know what is passing under 
my nose. But, sir," said he, writing to the Duke of 
Clarence, " I find few think as I do. To obey 
orders, is all perfection. To serve my king and to 
destroy the French, I consider as the great order of 
all, from which little ones spring : and if one of these 
militate against it (for who can tell exactly at a dis- 
tance?), I go back, and obey the great order and 
object, to down — down with the damned French 
villains ! My blood boils at the name of a French- 
man ! " 



214 LIFE OF NELSON. 

At length General Fox arrived at Minorca, — and, 
at length, permitted Colonel Graham to go to Malta, 
but with means miserably limited. In fact, the expedi- 
tion was at a stand for want of money ; when Trow- 
bridge, arriving at Messina to co-operate in it, and 
finding this fresh delay, immediately offered all that 
he could command of his own. " I procured him, 
my lord," said he to Nelson, " fifteen thousand of 
my cobs : — every farthing, and every atom of me, 
shall be devoted to the cause." — "What can this 
mean ? " said Nelson, when he learnt that Colonel 
Graham was ordered not to incur any expense for 
stores, or any articles except provisions : — " the cause 
cannot stand still for want of a little money. If no- 
body will pay it, I will sell Bronte, and the Emperor 
of Russia's box." And he actually pledged Bronte 
for £6600, if there should be any difficulty about pay- 
ing the bills. The long delayed expedition was 
thus, at last, sent forth — but Trowbridge little im- 
agined in what scenes of misery he was to bear his 
part. He looked to Sicily for supplies ; it was the 
interest, as well as the duty, of the Sicilian Govern- 
ment to use every exertion for furnishing them ; and 
Nelson and the British ambassador were on the spot 
to press upon them the necessity of exertion. But, 
though Nelson saw with what a knavish crew the 
Sicilian court was surrounded, he was blind to the 
vices of the court itself; and resigning himself wholly 
to Lady Hamilton's influence, never even suspected 
the crooked policy which it was remorselessly pursu- 
ing. The Maltese, and the British in Malta, severely 



LIFE OF NELSON. 215 

felt it. Trowbridge, who had the truest affection for 
Nelson, knew his infatuation, and feared that it might 
prove injurious to his character, as well as fatal to an 
enterprise which had been begun so well, and car- 
ried on so patiently. " My lord," said he, writing to 
him from the siege, " we are dying off fast for want. 
I learn that Sir William Hamilton says Prince Luzzi 
refused corn some time ago, and Sir William does 
not think it worth while making another application. 
If that be the case, I wish he commanded at this dis- 
tressing scene, instead of me. Puglia had an im- 
mense harvest : near thirty sail left Messina, before I 
did, to load corn. Will they let us have any ? If 
not, a short time will decide the business. The Ger- 
man interest prevails. I wish I was at your lord- 
ship's elbow for an hour. All, all, will be thrown on 
you ! I will parry the blow as much as in my power : 
I foresee much mischief brewing. — God bless your 
lordship ! I am miserable, I cannot assist your 
operations more. Many happy returns of this day to 
you — (it was the first of the new year) — I never 
spent so miserable a one. I am not very tender- 
hearted ; but really the distress here would even 
move a Neapolitan." Soon afterwards he wrote : " I 
have this day saved thirty thousand people from 
starving; but with this day my ability ceases. As 
the Government are bent on starving us, I see no 
alternative but to leave these poor unhappy people to 
perish, without our being witnesses to their distress. 
I curse the day I ever served the Neapolitan Govern- 
ment. We have characters, my lord, to lose : these 



216 LIFE OF NELSON. 

people have none. Do not suffer their infamous con- 
duct to fall on us. Our country is just, but severe. 
Such is the fever of my brain this minute, that I as- 
sure you, on my honour, if the Palermo traitors were 
here, I would shoot them first, and then myself. 
Girgenti is full of corn ; the money is ready to pay 
for it ; we do not ask it as a gift. Oh ! could you 
see the horrid distress I daily experience, something 
would be done. Some engine is at work against us 
in Naples ; and I believe I hit on the proper person. 
If you complain, he will be immediately promoted — 
agreeably to the Neapolitan custom. All I write to 
you is known at the queen's. For my own part, I 
look upon the Neapolitans as the worst of intriguing 
enemies ; every hour shows me their infamy and 
duplicity. I pray your lordship be cautious ; your 
honest, open manner of acting will be made a handle 
of. When I see you and tell of their infamous tricks, 
you will be as much surprised as I am. The whole 
will fall on you." 

Nelson was not, and could not, be insensible to 
the distress which his friend so earnestly represented. 
He begged, almost on his knees, he said, small sup- 
plies of money and corn, to keep the Maltese from 
starving. And when the court granted a small sup- 
ply, protesting their poverty, he believed their protes- 
tations, and was satisfied with their professions, 
instead of insisting that the restrictions upon the 
exportation of corn should be withdrawn. The 
anxiety, however, which he endured, affected him so 
deeply, that he said it had broken his spirit for ever. 



LIFE OF NELSON. 217 

Happily all that Trowbridge, with so much reason, 
foreboded, did not come to pass. For Captain Ball, 
with more decision than Nelson himself would have 
shown at that time, and upon that occasion, ventured 
upon a resolute measure, for which his name would 
deserve always to be held in veneration by the 
Maltese, even if it had no other claims to the love 
and reverence of a grateful people. Finding it hope- 
less longer to look for succour, or common humanity, 
from the deceitful and infatuated court of Sicily, 
which persisted in prohibiting, by sanguinary edicts, 
the exportation of supplies, at his own risk he sent 
his first lieutenant to the port of Messina, with orders 
to seize, and bring with him to Malta, the ships 
which were there lying laden with corn ; of the num- 
ber of which he had received accurate information. 
These orders were executed, to the great delight 
and advantage of the shipowners and proprietors ; 
the necessity of raising the siege was removed, and 
Captain Ball waited, in calmness, for the conse- 
quences to himself. " But," says Mr. Coleridge 
(who, it is to be hoped, will do that full justice to the 
memory of this great man which he is so fully capa- 
ble of doing,) " not a complaint, not a murmur, pro- 
ceeded from the court of Naples. The sole result 
was, that the governor of Malta became an especial 
object of its hatred, its fear, and its respect." 

Nelson himself, at the beginning of February, 
sailed for that island. On the way he fell in with a 
French squadron, bound for its relief, and consisting 
of the " Genereux," 74, three frigates, and a corvette. 



218 LIFE OF NELSON. 

One of the frigates, and the line-of-battle ship, were 
taken ; the others escaped, but failed in their purpose 
of reaching La Valette. This success was peculiarly- 
gratifying to Nelson, for many reasons. During some 
months he had acted as commander-in-chief in the 
Mediterranean, while Lord Keith was in England. 
Lord Keith was now returned ; and Nelson had, up- 
on his own plan, and at his own risk, left him, to sail 
for Malta, — " for which," said he, " if I had not suc- 
ceeded, I might have been broke ; — and, if I had not 
acted thus, the ' Genereux ' never would have been 
taken." This ship was one of those which had 
escaped from Aboukir. Two frigates, and the " Guil- 
laume Tell," 86, were all that now remained of the 
fleet which Buonaparte had conducted to Egypt. 
The " Guillaume Tell " was at this time closely 
watched in the harbour of La Valette ; and shortly 
afterwards, attempting to make her escape from 
thence, was taken, after an action, in which greater 
skill was never displayed by British ships, nor greater 
gallantry by an enemy. She was taken by the 
" Foudroyant," "Lion," and "Penelope" frigate. 
Nelson, rejoicing at what he called this glorious 
finish to the whole French Mediterranean fleet, re- 
joiced also that he was not present, to have taken a 
sprig of these brave men's laurels. " They are," 
said he, " and I glory in them, my children : they 
served in my school ; and all of us caught our pro- 
fessional zeal and fire from the great and good Earl 
St. Vincent. What a pleasure, what happiness, to 
have the Nile fleet all taken, under my orders and 



LIFE OF NELSON. 219 

regulations ! " The two frigates still remained in La 
Valette ; before its surrender they stole out : one was 
taken in the attempt ; the other was the only ship 
of the whole fleet which escaped capture or destruc- 
tion. 

Letters were found on board the " Guillaume Tell," 
showing that the French were now become hopeless 
of preserving the conquest which they had so foully 
acquired. Trowbridge, and his brother officers, were 
anxious that Nelson should have the honour of sign- 
ing the capitulation. They told him that they abso- 
lutely, as far as they dared, insisted on his staying to 
do this ; but their earnest and affectionate entreaties 
were vain. Sir William Hamilton had just been 
superseded ; Nelson had no feeling of cordiality to- 
wards Lord Keith ; and thinking that, after Earl St. 
Vincent, no man had so good a claim to the com- 
mand in the Mediterranean as himself, he applied 
for permission to return to England, telling the First 
Lord of the Admiralty that his spirit could not sub- 
submit patiently, and that he was a broken-hearted 
man. From the time of his return from Egypt, amid 
all the honours which were showered upon him, he 
had suffered many mortifications. Sir Sidney Smith 
had been sent to Egypt, with orders to take under 
his command the squadron which Nelson had left 
there. Sir Sidney appears to have thought that this 
command was to be independent of Nelson ; and 
Nelson himself thinking so, determined to return, 
saying to Earl St. Vincent, " I do feel, for I am man, 
lhat it is impossible for me to serve in these seas with 



220 LIFE OF NELSON. 

a squadron under a junior officer." Earl St. Vincent 
seems to have dissuaded him from this resolution ; 
some heartburnings, however, still remained, and 
some incautious expressions of Sir Sidney's were 
noticed by him in terms of evident displeasure. But 
this did not continue long ; and no man bore more 
willing testimony than Nelson to the admirable de- 
fence of Acre. 

He differed from Sir Sidney as to the policy which 
ought to be pursued toward the French in Egypt ; 
and strictly commanded him, in the strongest lan- 
guage, not, on any pretence, to permit a single 
Frenchman to leave the country ; saying, that he 
considered it nothing short of madness to permit 
that band of thieves to return to Europe. " No," 
said he; "to Egypt they went with their own con- 
sent, and there they shall remain while Nelson com- 
mands this squadron : — for never, never, will he con- 
sent to the return of one ship or Frenchman. I wish 
them to perish in Egypt, and give an awful lesson to 
the world of the justice of the Almighty." If Nelson 
had not thoroughly understood the character of the 
enemy against whom he was engaged, their conduct 
in Egypt would have disclosed it. After the battle 
of the Nile he had landed all his prisoners, upon a 
solemn engagement, made between Trowbridge on 
one side, and Captain Barre on the other, that none 
of them should serve till regularly exchanged. They 
were no sooner on shore than part of them were 
drafted into the different regiments, and the remain- 
der formed into a corps, called the Nautic Legion. 



LIFE OF NELSON. 221 

This occasioned Captain Hallowell to say, that the 
French had forfeited all claim to respect from us. 
" The army of Buonaparte," said he, " are entirely 
destitute of every principle of honour; they have 
always acted like licentious thieves." Buonaparte's 
escape was the more regretted by Nelson, because, 
if he had had sufficient force, he thought it would 
certainly have been prevented. He wished to keep 
ships upon the watch, to intercept anything coming 
from Egypt ; but the Admiralty calculated upon the 
assistance of the Russian fleet, which failed when it 
was most wanted. The ships which should have 
been thus employed were then required for more 
pressing services ; and the bloody Corsican was thus 
enabled to reach Europe in safety— there to become 
the guilty instrument of a wider-spreading destruc- 
tion than any with which the world had ever before 
been visited. 

Nelson had other causes of chagrin. Earl St. 
Vincent, for whom he felt such high respect, and 
whom Sir John Orde had challenged, for having 
nominated Nelson, instead of himself, to the com- 
mand of the Nile squadron, laid claim to prize money, 
as commander-in-chief, after he had quitted the sta- 
tion. The point was contested, and decided against 
him. Nelson, perhaps, felt this the more, because 
his own feelings, with regard to money, were so dif- 
ferent. An opinion had been given by Dr. Lawrence, 
which would have excluded the junior flag officers 
from prize money. When this was made known to 
him, his reply was in these words : " Notwithstand- 



222 LIFE OF NELSON. 

ing Dr. Lawrence's opinion, I do not believe I have 
any right to exclude the junior flag officers ; and if I 
have, I desire that no such claim may be made ; — 
no, not if it were sixty times the sum, and, poor as I 
am, I were never to see prize money." 

A ship could not be spared to convey him to Eng- 
land ; he therefore travelled through Germany to 
Hamburg, in company with his inseparable friends, 
Sir William and Lady Hamilton. The Queen of 
Naples went with them to Vienna. While they were 
at Leghorn, upon a report that the French were ap- 
proaching (for, through the folly of weak courts, and 
the treachery of venal cabinets, they had now re- 
covered their ascendency in Italy), the people rose 
tumultuously, and would fain have persuaded Nelson 
to lead them against the enemy. Public honours, 
and yet more gratifying testimonials of public admi- 
ration, awaited Nelson wherever he went. The 
Prince of Esterhazy entertained him in a style of 
Hungarian magnificence, a hundred grenadiers, each 
six feet in height, constantly waiting at table. At 
Magdeburg, the master of the hotel where he was 
entertained contrived to show him for money ; ad- 
mitting the curious to mount a ladder, and peep at 
him through a small window. A wine merchant at 
Hamburg, who was above seventy years of age, re- 
quested to speak with Lady Hamilton ; and told her 
he had some Rhenish wine of the vintage of 1625, 
which had been in his own possession more than half 
a century : he had preserved it for some extraordinary 
occasion ; and that which had now arrived was far 



LIFE OF NELSON. 223 

beyond any that he could ever have expected. His 
request was, that her ladyship would prevail upon 
Lord Nelson to accept six dozen of this incomparable 
wine : part of it would then have the honour to flow 
into the heart's blood of that immortal hero, and this 
thought would make him happy during the remainder 
of his life. Nelson, when this singular request was 
reported to him, went into the room, and taking the 
worthy old gentleman kindly by the hand, consented 
to receive six bottles, provided the donor would dine 
with him next day. Twelve were sent ; and Nelson, 
saying that he hoped yet to win half a dozen more 
great victories, promised to lay by six bottles of his 
Hamburg friend's wine, for the purpose of drinking 
one after each. A German pastor, between seventy 
and eighty years of age, travelled forty miles, with 
the Bible of his parish church, to request that Nelson 
would write his name on the first leaf of it. He 
called him the saviour of the Christian world. The 
old man's hope deceived him. There was no Nelson 
upon shore, or Europe would have been saved ; but, 
in his foresight of the horrors with which all Germany 
and all Christendom were threatened by France, the 
pastor could not possibly have apprehended more 
than has actually taken place. 



224 LIFE OF NELSON. 



CHAPTER VII. 

NELSON was welcomed in England with every 
mark of popular honour. At Yarmouth, where he 
landed, every ship in the harbour hoisted her colours. 
The mayor and corporation waited upon him with 
the freedom of the town, and accompanied him in 
procession to church, with all the naval officers on 
shore, and the principal inhabitants. Bonfires and 
illuminations concluded the day ; and, on the mor- 
row, the volunteer cavalry drew up and saluted him 
as he departed, and followed the carriage to the bor- 
ders of the county. At Ipswich the people came 
out to meet him, drew him a mile into the town, and 
three miles out. When he was in the "Agamem- 
non " he wished to represent this place in Parliament, 
and some of his friends had consulted the leading 
men of the corporation : the result was not success- 
ful : and Nelson, observing that he would endeavor 
to find a preferable path into Parliament, said there 
might come a time when the people of Ipswich 
would think it an honour to have had him for their 
representative. In London he was feasted by the 
City, drawn by the populace from Ludgate Hill to 
Guildhall, and received the thanks of the Common 
Council for his great victory, and a golden hiked 
sword, studded with diamonds. Nelson had every 






LIFE OF NELSON. 225 

earthly blessing except domestic happiness : he had 
forfeited that for ever. Before he had been three 
months in England he separated from Lady Nelson. 
Some of his last words to her were : " I call God to 
witness, there is nothing in you, or your conduct, 
that I wish otherwise." This was the consequence 
of his infatuated attachment to Lady Hamilton. It 
had before caused a quarrel with his son-in-law, and 
occasioned remonstrances from his truest friends ; 
which produced no other effect than that of making 
him displeased with them, and more dissatisfied with 
himself. 

The Addington administration was just at this 
time formed ; and Nelson, who had solicited employ- 
ment, and been made vice-admiral of the blue, was 
sent to the Baltic, as second in command, under Sir 
Hyde Parker, by Earl St. Vincent, the new First Lord 
of the Admiralty. The three northern courts had 
formed a confederacy for making England resign her 
naval rights. Of these courts, Russia was guided by 
the passions of its emperor, Paul ; a man not without 
fits of generosity, and some natural goodness, but 
subject to the wildest humours of caprice, and 
crazed by the possession of greater power than can 
ever be safely, or, perhaps, innocently, possessed by 
weak humanity. Denmark was French at heart ; 
ready to co-operate in all the views of France ; to 
recognise all her usurpations, and obey all her in- 
junctions. Sweden, under a king whose principles 
were right and whose feelings were generous, but 
who had a taint of hereditary insanity, acted in ac- 
J 5 



226 LIFE OF NELSON. 

quiescence to the dictates of two powers, whom it 
feared to offend. The Danish navy, at this time, 
consisted of twenty-three ships of the line, with about 
thirty-one frigates, and smaller vessels, exclusive of 
guard ships. The Swedes had eighteen ships of the 
line, fourteen frigates and sloops, seventy-four galleys 
and smaller vessels, besides gun-boats : and this 
force was in a far better state of equipment than the 
Danish. The Russians had eighty-two sail of the 
line and forty frigates. Of these, there were forty- 
seven sail of the line at Cronstadt, Revel, Peters- 
burgh, and Archangel : but the Russian fleet was 
ill-manned, ill-officered, and ill-equipped. Such a 
combination.under the influence of France, would soon 
have become formidable ; and never did the British 
Cabinet display more decision than in instantly pre- 
paring to crush it. They erred, however, in permit- 
ting any petty consideration to prevent them from 
appointing Nelson to the command. The public 
properly murmured at seeing it entrusted to another: 
and he himself said to Earl St. Vincent, that, circum- 
stanced as he was, this expedition would probably be 
the last service that he should ever perform. The 
Earl, in reply, besought him, for God's sake, not to 
suffer himself to be carried away by any sudden im- 
pulse. 

The season happened to be unusually favourable : 
so mild a winter had not been known in the Baltic 
for many years. When Nelson joined the fleet at 
Yarmouth, he found the admiral " a little nervous 
about dark nights and fields of ice." " But we must 



LIFE OF NELSON. 227 

brace up," said he ; " these are not times for nervous 
systems. I hope we shall give our northern enemies 
that hailstorm of bullets which gives our clear country 
the dominion of the sea. We have it, and all the 
devils in the North cannot take it from us if our 
wooden walls have fair play." Before the fleet left 
Yarmouth, it was sufficiently known that its destina- 
tion was against Denmark. Some Danes who be- 
longed to the " Amazon " frigate, went to Captain 
Riou, and telling him what they had heard, begged 
that he would get them exchanged into a ship bound 
on some other destination. " They had no wish," 
they said, " to quit the British service ; b.ut they 
entreated that they might not be forced to fight 
against their own country." There was not in our 
whole navy a man who had a higher and more chival- 
rous sense of duty than Riou. Tears came into his 
eyes while the men were speaking : without making 
any reply, he instantly ordered his boat, and did not 
return to the " Amazon " till he could tell them that 
their wish was effected. 

The fleet sailed on the 12th of March. Mr. Vansit- 
tart sailed in it, the British Cabinet still hoping to obtain 
its end by negotiation. It was well for England that 
Sir Hyde Parker placed a fuller confidence in Nelson 
than the Government seems to have done at this most 
important crisis. Her enemies might well have been 
astonished at learning that any other man should, 
for a moment, have been thought of for the command. 
But so little deference was paid, even at this time, to 
his intuitive and all-commanding genius, that when 



228 LIFE OF NELSON. 

the fleet had reached its first rendezvous, at the en- 
trance of the Cattegat, he had received no official 
communication whatever of the intended operations. 
His own mind had been made up upon them with its 
accustomed decision. " All I have gathered of our 
first plans," said he, "I disapprove most exceedingly. 
Honour may arise from them : good cannot. I hear 
we are likely to anchor outside of Cronenburg Castle, 
instead of Copenhagen, which would give weight to 
our negotation. A Danish minister would think 
twice before he would put his name to war with Eng- 
land, when the next moment he would probably see 
his master's fleet in flames, and his capital in ruins. 
The Dane should see our flag every moment he 
lifted up his head." 

Mr. Vansittart left the fleet at the Scaw, and pre- 
ceded it in a frigate, with a flag of truce. Precious 
time was lost by this delay, which was to be pur- 
chased by the dearest blood of Britain and of Den- 
mark : according to the Danes themselves, the in- 
telligence that a British fleet was seen off the Sound, 
produced a much more general alarm in Copenhagen 
than its actual arrival in the roads ; for their means 
of defence were, at that time, in such a state, that 
they could hardly hope to resist, still less to repel, 
an enemy. On the 21st Nelson had a long confer- 
ence with Sir Hyde ; and the next day addressed a 
letter to him, worthy of himself and of the occasion. 
Mr. Vansittart's report had then been received. It re- 
presented the Danish Government as in the highest 
degree hostile ; and their state of preparation as ex- 



LIFE OF NELSON. 229 

ceeding what our Cabinet had supposed possible; 
for Denmark had profited, with all activity, of the 
leisure which had so im politically been given her. 
" The more I have reflected," said Nelson to his 
commander, " the more I am confirmed in opinion, 
that not a moment should be lost in attacking the 
enemy. They will every day and hour be stronger : 
we never shall be so good a match for them as at 
this moment. The only consideration is, how to get 
at them with the least risk to our ships. Here you 
are, with almost the safety — certainly with the honour 
— of England more entrusted to you than ever yet 
fell to the lot of any British officer. On your decision 
depends whether our country shall be degraded in 
the eyes of Europe, or whether she shall rear her 
head higher than ever. Again do I repeat, never 
did our country depend so much on the success of 
any fleet as on this. How best to honour her and 
abate the pride of her enemies, must be the subject 
of your deepest consideration." 

Supposing him to force the passage of the Sound, 
Nelson thought some damage might be done among 
the masts and yards ; though, perhaps, not one of 
them but would be serviceable again. " If the wind 
be fair," said he, " and you determine to attack the 
ships and Crown Islands, you must expect the natural 
issue of such a battle — ships crippled, and, perhaps, 
one or two lost ; for the wind which carries you in 
will, most probably, not bring out a crippled ship. 
This mode I call taking the bull by the horns. It, 
however, will not prevent the Revel-ships, or the 



230 LIFE OF NELSON. 

Swedes, from joining the Danes : and to prevent this, 
is, in my humble opinion, a measure absolutely neces- 
sary ; and still to attack Copenhagen." For this he 
proposed two modes. One was to pass Cronenburg, 
taking the risk of danger; take the deepest and 
straitest channel along the Middle Grounds ; and then 
coming down the Garbar, or King's Channel, attack 
the Danish line of floating batteries and ships, as 
might be found convenient. This would prevent the 
junction, and might give an opportunity of bombard- 
ing Copenhagen. Or to take the passage of the 
Belt, which might be accomplished in four or five 
days ; and then the attack by Draco might be made, 
and the junction of the Russians prevented. Suppos- 
ing them through the Belt, he proposed that a de- 
tachment of the fleet should be sent to destroy the 
Russian squadron at Revel ; and that the business 
at Copenhagen should be attempted with the re- 
mainder. " The measure," he said, " may be thought 
bold ; but the boldest measures are the safest." 

The pilots, as men who had nothing but safety to 
think of, were terrified by the formidable report of 
the batteries of Elsineur, and the tremendous pre- 
parations which our negotiators, who were now re- 
turned from their fruitless mission, had witnessed. 
They, therefore, persuaded Sir Hyde to prefer the 
passage of the Belt. " Let it be by the Sound, by 
the Belt, or anyhow," cried Nelson ; " only lose not 
an hour ! " On the 26th they sailed for the Belt ; 
but, after a few hours, this resolution was changed, 
and the fleet returned to its former anchorage. The 



LIFE OF NELSON. 231 

difficulty of the course is said to have been one 
reason ; Nelson's advice another. The next day- 
was more idly expended in despatching a flag of 
truce to the governor of Cronenburg Castle, to ask 
whether he had received orders to fire at the British 
fleet ; as the admiral must consider the first gun to 
be a declaration of war on the part of Denmark. A 
soldier-like and becoming answer was returned to 
this formality. The governor said, that the British 
minister had not been sent away from Copenhagen, 
but had obtained a passport at his own demand. 
He himself, as a soldier, could not meddle with 
politics ; but he was not at liberty to suffer a fleet, of 
which the intention was not yet known, to approach 
the guns of the castle which he had the honour to 
command ; and he requested, if the British admiral 
should think proper to make any proposals to the 
King of Denmark, that he might be apprised of it 
before the fleet approached nearer. During this in- 
tercourse, a Dane, who came on board the com- 
mander's ship, having occasion to express his busi- 
ness in writing, found the pen blunt ; and, holding it 
up, sarcastically said : " If your guns are not better 
pointed than your pens, you will make little impres- 
sion on Copenhagen ! " 

On that day intelligence reached the admiral of 
the loss of one of his fleet, the " Invincible, ' 74, 
wrecked on a sand bank, as she was coming out of 
Yarmouth, 400 of her men perishing in her. Nelson, 
who was now appointed to lead the van, shifted his 
flag to the " Elephant," Captain Foley ; a lighter 



232 LIFE OF NELSON. 

ship than the " St. George/' and, therefore, fitter for 
the expected operations. The two following days 
were calm. Orders had been given to pass the 
Sound as soon as the wind would permit ; and, on 
the afternoon of the 29th, the ships were cleared for 
action, with an alacrity characteristic of British sea- 
men. At daybreak, on the 30th, it blew a topsail 
breeze from N. W. The signal was made, and the 
fleet moved on in order of battle — Nelson's division 
in the van, Sir Hyde's in the center, and Admiral 
Graves' in the rear. 

Great actions, whether military or naval, have 
generally given celebrity to the scenes from whence 
they are denominated ; and thus petty villages, and 
capes, and bays, known only to the coasting trader, 
become associated with mighty deeds, and their names 
are made conspicuous in the history of the world. 
Here, however, the scene was every way worthy of 
the drama. The political importance of the Sound 
is such, that grand objects are not needed there to 
impress the imagination ; yet is the channel full of 
grand and interesting objects, both of art and nature. 
This passage, which Denmark had so long considered 
as the key of the Baltic, is, in its narrowest part, 
about three miles wide ; and here the city of Elsineur 
is situated ; except Copenhagen, the most flourishing 
of the Danish towns. Every vessel which passes 
lowers her top-gallant-sails, and pays toll at Elsi- 
neur : a toll which is believed to have had its origin in 
the consent of the traders to that sea, Denmark taking 
upon itself the charge of constructing lighthouses, 



i LIFE OF NELSON. 233 

and erecting signals, to mark the shoals and rocks 
from the Cattegat to the Baltic : and they, on their 
part, agreeing that all ships should pass this way, in 
order that all might pay their shares : none from that 
time using the passage of the Belt ; because it was 
not fitting that they, who enjoyed the benefit of the 
beacons in dark and stormy weather, should evade 
contributing to them in fair seasons and summer 
nights. Of late years about ten thousand vessels 
had annually paid this contribution in time of peace. 
Adjoining Elsineur, and at the edge of a peninsular 
promontory, upon the nearest point of land to the 
Swedish coast, stands Cronenburg Castle, built after 
Tycho Brahe's design — a magnificent pile — at once a 
palace, and fortress, and state prison, with its spires 
and towers, and battlements and batteries. On the 
left of the strait is the old Swedish city of Helsing- 
burg, at the foot, and on the side of a hill. To the 
north of Helsingburg the shores are steep and rocky; 
they lower to the south ; and the distant spires of 
Landscrona, Lund, and Malmoe are seen in the flat 
country. The Danish shores consist partly of ridges 
of sand ; but, more frequently, their slopes are covered 
with rich wood, and villages and villas, denoting the 
vicinity of a great capital. The isles of Huen, Salt- 
holm, and Amak appear in the widening channel ; 
and at the distance of twenty miles from Elsineur, 
stands Copenhagen, in full view — the best built city 
of the North, and one of the finest capitals of Europe, 
visible, with its stately spires, far off. Amid these 
magnificent objects, there are some which possess a 



234 LIFE OF NELSON. 

peculiar interest for the recollections which they call 
forth. The isle of Huen, a lovely domain, about six 
miles in circumference, had been the munificent gift 
of Frederic the Second to Tycho Brahe. Here most 
of his discoveries were made ; and here the ruins are 
to be seen of his observatory, and of the mansion 
where he was visited by princes ; and where, with a 
princely spirit, he received and entertained all comers 
from all parts, and promoted science by his liberality, 
as well as by his labours. Elsineur is a name fami- 
liar to English ears, being inseparably associated 
with Hamlet, and one of the noblest works of human 
genius. Cronenburg had been the scene of deeper 
tragedy : here Queen Matilda was confined, the victim 
of a foul and murderous court intrigue. Here, amid 
heart-breaking griefs, she found consolation in nurs- 
ing her infant. Here she took her everlasting leave 
of that infant, when, by the interference of England, 
her own deliverance was obtained ; and, as the ship 
bore her away from a country, where the venial in- 
discretions of youth and unsuspicious gaiety had 
been so cruelly punished ; upon these towers she 
fixed her eyes, and stood upon the deck, obstinately 
gazing toward them till the last speck had dis- 
appeared. 

The Sound being the only frequented entrance to 
the Baltic, the great Mediterranean of the North, few 
parts of the sea display so frequent a navigation. 
In the height of the season, not fewer than an hun- 
dred vessels pass every four-and-twenty hours, for 
many weeks in succession ; but never had so busy or 



LIFE OF NELSON. 235 

so splendid a scene been exhibited there as on this 
day, when the British fleet prepared to force that 
passage, where, till now, all ships had vailed their 
top-sails to the flag of Denmark. The whole force 
consisted of fifty-one sail, of various descriptions ; of 
which sixteen were of the line. The greater part of 
the bomb and gun vessels took their station off 
Cronenburg Castle, to cover the fleet; while others, 
on the larboard, were ready to engage the Swedish 
shore. The Danes, having improved every moment 
which ill-timed negotiation and baffling weather gave 
them, had lined their shore with batteries ; and as 
soon as the " Monarch," which was the leading ship, 
came abreast of them, a fire was opened from about 
a hundred pieces of cannon and mortars : our light 
vessels immediately, in return, opened their fire upon 
the castle. Here was all the pompous circumstance 
and exciting reality of war, without its effects ; for 
this ostentatious display was but a bloodless prelude 
to the wide and sweeping destruction which was 
soon to follow. The enemy's shot fell near enough 
to splash the water on board our ships : not relying 
upon any forbearance of the Swedes, they meant to 
have kept the mid channel : but, when they perceived 
that not a shot was fired from Helsingburg, and that 
no batteries were to be seen on the Swedish shore, 
they inclined to that side, so as completely to get 
out of reach of the Danish guns. The uninterrupted 
blaze which was kept up from them till the fleet had 
passed, served only to exhilarate our sailors, and 
afford them matter for jest, as the shot fell in showers 



236 LIFE OF NELSON. 

a full cable's length short of its destined aim. A 
few rounds were returned from some of our leading 
ships, till they perceived its inutility ; — this, however, 
occasioned the only bloodshed of the day, some of 
our men being killed and wounded by the bursting 
of a gun. As soon as the main body had passed, 
the gun vessels followed, desisting from their bom- 
bardment, which had been as innocent as that of the 
enemy ; and, about mid-day, the whole fleet anchored 
between the island of Huen and Copenhagen. Sir 
Hyde, with Nelson, Admiral Graves, some of the 
senior captains, and the commanding officers of the 
artillery and the troops, then proceeded in a lugger, 
to reconnoitre the enemy's means of defence ; a for- 
midable line of ships, radeaus, pontoons, galleys, fire- 
ships, and gunboats, flanked and supported by ex- 
tensive batteries, and occupying, from one extreme 
point to the other, an extent of nearly four miles. 

A council of war was held in the afternoon. It 
was apparent that the Danes could not be attacked 
without great difficulty and risk ; and some of the 
members of the council spoke of the number of the 
Swedes and the Russians, whom they should after- 
wards have to engage, as a consideration which ought 
to be borne in mind. Nelson, who kept pacing the 
cabin, impatient as he ever was of anything which 
savoured of irresolution, repeatedly said, " The more 
numerous the better : I wish they were twice as 
many, — the easier the victory, depend on it." The 
plan upon which he had determined, if ever it should 
be his fortune to bring- a Baltic fleet to action, was 



LIFE OF NELSON. 237 

to attack the head of their line, and confuse their 
movements. " Close with a Frenchman," he used to 
say, " but out-manceuvre a Russian." He offered his 
services for the attack, requiring ten sail of the line, 
and the whole of the smaller craft. Sir Hyde gave 
him two more line of battle ships than he asked, and 
left everything to his judgment. 

The enemy's force was not the only, nor the greatest, 
obstacle with which the British fleet had to contend : 
there was another to be overcome before they could 
come in contact with it. The channel was little 
known, and extremely intricate ; all the buoys had 
been removed ; and the Danes considered this diffi- 
culty as almost insuperable, thinking the channel im- 
practicable for so large a fleet. Nelson himself saw 
the soundings made and the buoys laid down, boating 
it upon this exhausting service, day and night, till it 
was effected. When this was done, he thanked God 
for having enabled him to get through this difficult 
part of his duty. " It had worn him down," he said, 
"and was infinitely more grievous to him than any 
resistance which he could experience from the 
enemy." 

At the first council of war, opinions inclined to an 
attack from the eastward : but the next day, the wind 
being southerly, after a second examination of the 
Danish position, it was determined to attack from 
the south, approaching in the manner which Nelson 
had suggested in his first thoughts. On the morning 
of the 1st of April, the whole fleet removed to an 
anchorage within two leagues of the town, and off 



238 LIFE OF NELSON. 



the N.W. end of the Middle Ground ; a shoal lying 
exactly before the town, at about three-quarters of a 
mile distance, and extending along its whole sea 
front. The King's Channel, where there is deep 
water, is between this shoal and the town ; and here 
the Danes had arranged their line of defence, as near 
the shore as possible ; — nineteen ships and floating 
batteries, flanked, at the end nearest the town, by 
the Crown Batteries, which were two artificial islands, 
at the mouth of the harbour, most formidable works ; 
the larger one having, by the Danish account, sixty- 
six guns ; but, as Nelson, believed, eighty-eight. The 
fleet having anchored, Nelson with Riou, in the " Ama- 
zon," made his last examination of the ground ; and, 
about one o'clock, returning to his own ship, threw 
out the signal to weigh. It was received with a shout 
throughout the whole division ; they weighed with a 
light and favourable wind ; the narrow channel be- 
tween the island of Salthom and the Middle Ground 
had been accurately buoyed ; the small craft pointed 
out the course distinctly ; Riou led the way : the 
whole division coasted along the outer edge of the 
shoal, doubled its farther extremity, and anchored 
there off Draco Point, just as the darkness closed, 
the headmost of the enemy's line not being more than 
two miles distant. The signal to prepare for action 
had been made early in the evening ; and, as his own 
anchor dropped, Nelson called out, " I will fight them 
the moment I have a fair wind." It had been agreed 
that Sir Hyde, with the remaining ships, should 
weigh on the following morning, at the same time as 



. 



LIFE OF NELSON. 239 

Nelson, to menace the Crown Batteries on his side, 
and the four ships of the line which lay at the en- 
trance of the arsenal ; and to cover our own disabled 
ships as they came out of action. 

The Danes, meantime, had not been idle : no 
sooner did the guns of Cronenburg make it known 
to the whole city that all negotiation was at an end, 
that the British fleet was passing the Sound, and that 
the dispute between the two crowns must now be 
decided by arms, than a spirit displayed itself most 
honourable to the Danish character. All ranks of- 
fered themselves to the service of their country ; the 
university furnished a corps of twelve hundred 
youths, the flower of Denmark : — it was one of those 
emergencies in which little drilling or discipline is 
necessary to render courage available ; they had 
nothing to learn but how to manage the guns, and 
day and night were employed in practising them. 
When the movements of Nelson's squadron were 
perceived, it was known when and where the attack 
was to be expected, and the line of defence was 
manned indiscriminately by soldiers, sailors, and citi- 
zens. Had not the whole attention of the Danes 
been directed to strengthen their own means of de- 
fence, they might most materially have annoyed the 
invading squadron, and, perhaps, frustrated the im- 
pending attack ; for the British ships were crowded 
in an anchoring ground of little extent : — it was calm, 
so that mortar-boats might have acted against them 
to the utmost advantage ; and they were within 
range of shells from Amak Island. , A few fell 



240 LIFE OF NELSON. 

among them ; but the enemy soon ceased to fire. It 
was learnt afterwards, that, fortunately for the fleet, 
the bed of the mortar had given way ; and the 
Danes either could not get it replaced, or, in the 
darkness, lost the direction. 

This was an awful night for Copenhagen, — far 
more so than for the British fleet, where the men 
were accustomed to battle and victory, and had none 
of those objects before their eyes, which render death 
terrible. Nelson sat down to table with a large 
party of his officers ; he was, as he was ever wont to 
be when on the eve of action, in high spirits, and 
drank to a leading wind, and to the success of the 
morrow. After supper they returned to their respec- 
tive ships, except Riou, who remained to arrange the 
order of battle with Nelson and Foley, and to draw 
up instructions ; Hardy, meantime, went in a small 
boat to examine the channel between them and the 
enemy ; approaching so near, that he sounded round 
their leading ship with a pole, lest the noise of throw- 
ing the lead should discover him. The incessant 
fatigue of body, as well as mind, which Nelson had 
undergone during the last three days, had so ex- 
hausted him, that he was earnestly urged to go to his 
cot ; and his old servant, Allen, using that kind of 
authority which long and affectionate services entitled 
and enabled him to assume on such occasions, insist- 
ed upon his complying. The cot was placed on the 
floor, and he continued to dictate from it. About 
eleven Hardy returned, and reported the practica- 
bility of the channel, and the depth of water up to 



LIFE OF NELSON. 241 

the enemy's line. About one, the orders were com- 
pleted ; and half-a-dozen clerks, in the foremost 
cabin, proceeded to transcribe them, Nelson fre- 
quently calling out to them from his cot to hasten 
their work, for the wind was becoming fair. Instead 
of attempting to get a few hours of sleep, he was 
constantly receiving reports upon this importaut 
point. At daybreak it was announced as becoming 
perfectly fair. The clerks finished their work about 
six. Nelson, who was already up, breakfasted, and 
made signal for all captains. The land forces, and 
five hundred seamen, under Captain Freemantle and 
the Honourable Colonel Stewart were to storm the 
Crown Battery as soon as its fire should be silenced ; 
and Riou, — whom Nelson had never seen till this 
expedition, but whose worth he had instantly per- 
ceived, and appreciated as it deserved, — had the 
"Blanche" and "Alcmene" frigates, the "Dart" 
and " Arrow " sloops, and the " Zephyr " and " Otter" 
fire-ships, given him, with a special command to act 
as circumstances might require ; — every other ship 
had its station appointed. 

Between eight and nine the pilots and masters 
were ordered on board the admiral's ship. The 
pilots were mostly men who had been mates in Bal- 
tic traders ; and their hesitation about the bearing of 
the east end of the shoal, and the exact line of deep 
water, gave ominous warning of how little their 
knowledge was to be trusted. The signal for action 
had been made, the wind was fair — not a moment to 
be lost. Nelson urged them to be steady — to be 
16 



242 LIFE OF NELSON. 



resolute, and to decide ; — but they wanted the only- 
ground for steadiness and decision in such cases ; 
and Nelson had reason to regret that he had not 
trusted to Hardy's single report. This was one of 
the most painful moments of his life ; and he always 
spoke of it with bitterness. " I experienced in the 
Sound," said he, " the misery of having the honour of 
our country entrusted to a set of pilots, who have no 
other thought than to keep the ships clear of danger, 
and their own silly heads clear of shot. Everybody 
knows what I must have suffered ; and if any merit 
attaches itself to me, it was for combating the 
dangers of the shallows in defiance of them." At 
length Mr. Bryerly, the master of the "Bellona," de- 
clared that he was prepared to lead the fleet : his 
judgment was acceded to by the rest : they returned 
to their ships ; and, at half-past nine, the signal was 
made to weigh in succession. 

Captain Murray, in the " Edgar," led the way ; the 
" Agamemnon " was next in order ; but, on the first 
attempt to leave her anchorage, she could not weather 
the edge of the shoal ; and Nelson had the grief to 
see his old ship, in which he had performed so many 
years' gallant services, immovably aground, at a 
moment when her help was so greatly required. 
Signal was then made for the " Polyphemus," and 
this change in the order of sailing was executed with 
the utmost promptitude : yet so much delay had thus 
been unavoidably occasioned, that the "Edgar " was 
for some time unsupported : and the " Polyphemus," 
whose place should have been at the end of the 



: 



LIFE OF NELSON. 243 

enemy's line, where their strength was the greatest, 
could get no further than the beginning, owing to 
the difficulty of the channel : there she occupied, in- 
deed, an efficient station, but one where her presence 
was less required. The " Isis " followed, with better 
fortune, and took her own berth. The " Bellona," 
Sir Thomas Boulden Thompson, kept too close on 
the starboard shoal, and grounded abreast of the 
outer ship of the enemy : this was the more vexatious, 
inasmuch as the wind was fair, the room ample and 
three ships had led the way. The " Russell," fol- 
lowing the "Bellona," grounded in like manner: 
both were within reach of shot ; but their absence 
from their intended stations was severely felt. Each 
ship had been ordered to pass her leader on the star- 
board side, because the water was supposed to shoal 
on the larboard shore. Nelson, who came next after 
these two ships, thought they had kept too far on the 
starboard direction, and made signal for them to 
close with the enemy, not knowing that they were 
aground : but, when he perceived that they did not 
obey the signal, he ordered the "Elephant's" helm 
to starboard, and went within these ships : thus quit- 
ting the appointed order of sailing, and guiding 
those which were to follow. The greater part of the 
fleet were probably, by this act of promptitude on his 
part, saved from going on shore. Each ship, as she 
arrived nearly opposite her appointed station, let her 
anchor go by the stern, and presented her broadside 
to the Danes. The distance between each was about 
a half cable. The action was fought nearly at the 



244 LIFE OF NELSON. 

distance of a cable's length from the enemy. This, 
which rendered its continuance so long, was owing 
to the ignorance and consequent indecision of the 
pilots. In pursuance of the same error which had 
led the " Bellona " and the " Russell " aground, they, 
when the lead was at a quarter less five, refused to 
approach nearer, in dread of shoaling their water on 
the larboard shore : a fear altogether erroneous, for 
the water deepened up to the very side of the enemy's 
line. 

At five minutes after ten the action began. The 
first half of our fleet was engaged in about half an 
hour ; and by half-past eleven the battle became 
general. The plan of the attack had been complete : 
but seldom has any plan been more disconcerted by 
untoward accidents. Of twelve ships of the line 
one was entirely useless, and two others in a situation 
where they could not render half the service which 
was required of them. Of the squadron of gun-brigs, 
only one could get into action : the rest were pre- 
vented, by baffling currents, from weathering the 
eastern end of the shoal ; and only two of the bomb- 
vessels could reach their station on the Middle 
Ground, and open their mortars on the arsenal, firing 
over both fleets. Riou took the vacant station 
against the Crown Battery, with his frigates ; at- 
tempting, with that unequal force, a service in which 
three sail of the line had been directed to assist. 

Nelson's agitation had been extreme when he saw 
himself, before the action began, deprived of a fourth 
part of his ships of the line. But no sooner was he 






LIFE OF NELSON. 245 

in battle, where his squadron was received with the 
fire of more than a thousand guns, than, as if that 
artillery, like music, had driven away all care and 
painful thoughts, his countenance brightened; and, 
as a bystander describes him, his conversation be- 
came joyous, animated, elevated, and delightful. 
The commander-in-chief, meantime near enough to 
the scene of action to know the unfavourable accidents 
which had so materially weakened Nelson, and yet 
too distant to know the real state of the contending 
parties, suffered the most dreadful anxiety. To get 
to his assistance was impossible; both wind and 
current were against him. Fear for the event, in 
such circumstances, would naturally preponderate in 
the bravest mind; and, at one o'clock, perceiving 
that, after three hours' endurance, the enemy's fire 
was' unslackened, he began to despair of success ; 
and thinking it became him to save what he could 
from the hopeless contest, he made signal for retreat. 
Nelson was now in all the excitement of action, pac- 
ing the quarter-deck. A shot through the mainmast 
knocked the splinters about ; and he observed to one 
of his officers, with a smile : " It is warm work ; and 
this day may be the last to any of us at a moment : " 
—and then stopping short at the gangway, added, 
with emotion—" But mark you : I would not be else- 
where for thousands." About this time the signal 
lieutenant called out, that No. 39 (the signal for dis- 
continuing the action) was thrown out by the com- 
mander-in-chief. He continued to walk the deck, 
and appeared to take no notice of it. The signal 



246 LIFE OF NELSON. 

officer met him at the next turn, and asked if he 
should repeat it. " No," he replied ; " acknowledge 
it." Presently he called after him, to know if the 
signal for close action was still hoisted ; and being 
answered in the affirmative, said, " Mind you keep it 
so." He now paced the deck, moving the stump of 
his lost arm in a manner which always indicated 
great emotion. " Do you know," said he to Mr. 
Ferguson, what is shown on board the commander- 
in-chief ? No. 39 ! " Mr. Ferguson asked what that 
meant ? — " Why, to leave off action ! " Then, shrug- 
ging up his shoulders, he repeated the words — " Leave 
off action ! Now damn me if I do ! You know, 
Foley," turning to the captain, " I have only one eye, 
— I have a right to be blind sometimes : " — and then 
putting the glass to his blind eye, in that mood of 
mind which sports with bitterness, he exclaimed, " I 
really do not see the signal ! " Presently he ex- 
claimed, " Damn the signal ! Keep mine for closer 
battle flying ! That's the way I answer such signals. 
Nail mine to the mast ! " Admiral Graves, who was 
so situated that he could not discern what was done 
on board the " Elephant," disobeyed Sir Hyde's sig- 
nal in like manner : whether by fortunate mistake, or 
by a like brave intention, has not been made known. 
The other ships of the line, looking only to Nelson, 
continued the action. The signal, however, saved 
Riou's little squadron, but did not save its heroic 
leader. This squadron, which was nearest the com- 
mander-in-chief, obeyed, and hauled off. It had suf- 
fered severely in its most unequal contest. For a 



LIFE OF NELSON. 247 

long time the " Amazon " had been firing, enveloped 
in smoke, when Riou desired his men to stand fast 
and let the smoke clear off, that they might see what 
they were about. A fatal order ; for the Danes then 
got clear sight of her from the batteries, and pointed 
their guns with such tremendous effect that nothing 
but the signal for retreat saved this frigate from de- 
struction. " What will Nelson think of us ! " was 
Riou's mournful exclamation, when he unwillingly 
drew off. He had been wounded in the head by a 
splinter, and was sitting on a gun, encouraging his 
men, when just as the " Amazon " showed her stern 
to the Trekroner battery, his clerk was killed by his 
side ; and another shot swept away several marines 
who were hauling in the main-brace. " Come then, 
my boys ! " cried Riou, "let us die all together!" 
The words had scarcely been uttered, before a raking 
shot cut him in two. Except it had been Nelson 
himself, the British navy could not have suffered a 
severer loss. 

The action continued along the line with unabated 
vigour on our side, and with the most determined 
resolution on the part of the Danes. They fought 
to great advantage, because most of the vessels in 
their line of defence were without masts : the few 
which had any standing had their topmast struck, 
and the hulls could only be seen at intervals. The 
" Isis " must have been destroyed by the superior 
weight of her enemy's fire, if Captain Inman, in the 
" Desiree " frigate had not judiciously taken a situa- 
tion which enabled him to rake the Dane, and if the 



248 LIFE OF NELSON. 

" Polyphemus " had not also relieved her. Both in 
the "Bellona" and the " Isis " many men were lost 
by the bursting of their guns. The former ship was 
about forty years old, and these guns were believed 
to be the same which she had first taken to sea : they 
were, probably, originally faulty, for the fragments 
were full of little air holes. The "Bellona" lost 
seventy-five men ; the " Isis " one hundred and ten ; 
the " Monarch " two hundred and ten. She was 
more than any other line of battle ship exposed to 
the great battery ; and supporting at the same time 
the united fire of the " Holstein " and the " Zealand," 
her loss this day exceeded that of any single ship 
during the whole war. Amid the tremendous car- 
nage in this vessel, some of the men displayed a sin- 
gular instance of coolness : the pork and peas hap- 
pened to be in the kettle ; a shot knocked its contents 
about ; they picked up the pieces, and ate and fought 
at the same time. 

The Prince Royal had taken his station upon one 
of the batteries, from whence he beheld the action and 
issued his orders. Denmark had never been engaged 
in so arduous a contest, and never did the Danes 
more nobly display their national courage — a courage 
not more unhappily, thanimpolitically, exerted in sub- 
serviency to the interest of France. Captain Thura, 
of the " Indfoedsretten," fell early in the action ; and 
all his officers, except one lieutenant and one marine 
officer, were either killed or wounded. In the con- 
fusion, the colours were either struck or shot away; 
but she was moored athwart one of the batteries in 



LIFE OF NELSON. 249 

such a situation, that the British made no attempt to 
board her ; and a boat was despatched to the prince, 
to inform him of her situation. He turned to those 
about him, and said, " Gentlemen, Thura is killed ; 
which of you will take the command ? " Schroeder- 
see, a captain who had lately resigned on account of 
extreme ill health, answered, in a feeble voice, " I 
will," and hastened on board. The crew, perceiving 
a new commander coming alongside, hoisted their 
colours again, and fired a broadside. Schroedersee, 
when he came on deck, found himself surrounded by 
the dead and wounded, and called to those in the 
boat to get quickly on board : a ball struck him at 
that moment. A lieutenant, who had accompanied 
him, then took the command, and continued to fight 
the ship. A youth of seventeen, by name Villemoes, 
particularly distinguished himself on this memorable 
day. He had volunteered to take the command of a 
floating battery ; which was a raft, consisting merely 
of a number of beams nailed together, with a flooring 
to support the guns : it was square, with a breast- 
work full of portholes and without masts, carrying 
twenty-four guns and one hundred and twenty men. 
With this he got under the stern of the "Elephant," 
below the reach of the stern chasers ; and, under a 
heavy fire of small arms from the marines, fought his 
raft, till the truce was announced, with such skill 
as well as courage, as to excite Nelson's warmest ad- 
miration. 

Between one and two the fire of the Danes slack- 
ened ; about two it ceased from the greater part of 



250 LIFE OF NELSON. 

their line, and some of their lighter ships were adrift. 
It was, however, difficult to take possession of those 
who struck, because the batteries on Amak Island 
protected them, and because an irregular fire was 
kept up from the ships themselves as the boats ap- 
proached. This arose from the nature of the action ; 
the crews were continually reinforced from the shore : 
and fresh men coming on board, did not inquire 
whether the flag had been struck, or, perhaps, did 
not heed it — many, or most of them, never having 
been engaged in war before, — knowing nothing, 
therefore, of its laws, and thinking only of defending 
their country to the last extremity. The " Danbrog " 
fired upon the "Elephant's" boats in this manner, 
though her commodore had removed her pendant 
and deserted her, though she had struck, and though 
she was in flames. After she had been abandoned 
by the commodore, Braun fought her till he lost his 
right hand, and then Captain Lemming took the 
command. This unexpected renewal of her fire 
made the " Elephant " and " Glatton " renew theirs, 
till she was not only silenced, but nearly every man in 
the praams, ahead and astern of her, was killed. 
When the smoke of their guns died away, she was 
seen drifting in flames before the wind ; those of her 
crew, who remained alive, and able to exert them- 
selves, throwing themselves out at her portholes. 

Captain Rothe commanded the " Nyeborg " praam, 
and perceiving that she could not much longer be 
kept afloat, made for the inner road. As he passed 
the line he found the " Aggershuus " praam in a 



LIFE OF NELSON. • 251 

more miserable condition than his own ; her masts 
had all gone by the board, and she was on the point 
of sinking. Rothe made fast a cable to her stern, 
and towed her off ; but he could get her no further 
than a shoal, called Stubben,, when she sunk; and 
soon after he had worked the " Nyeborg " up to the 
landing-place, that vessel also sunk to her gunwale. 
Never did any vessel come out of action in a 
more dreadful plight. The stump of her foremast 
was the only stick standing ; her cabin had been 
stove in ; every gun, except a single one, was dis- 
mounted ; and her deck was covered with shattered 
limbs and dead bodies. 

By half-past two the action had ceased along that 
part of the line which was astern of the " Elephant," 
but not with the ships ahead and the Crown Bat- 
teries. Nelson, seeing the manner in which his boats 
were fired upon when they went to take possession 
of the prizes, became angry, and said, he must either 
send on shore to have this irregular proceeding 
stopped, or send a fire ship and burn them : and, 
with a presence of mind peculiar to himself, and 
never more signally displayed than now, he availed 
himself of this occasion to secure the advantage 
which he had gained, and open a negotiation. He 
returned into the stern gallery, and wrote thus to 
the Crown Prince: "Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson has 
been commanded to spare Denmark, when she no 
longer resists. The line of defence which covered 
her shores has struck to the British flag : but if the 
firing is continued on the part of Denmark, he must 



252 • LIFE OF NELSON. 

set on fire all the prizes that he has taken, without 
having the power of saving the men who have so 
nobly defended them. The brave Danes are the 
brothers, and should never be the enemies, of the 
English." A wafer was given him ; but he ordered 
a candle to be brought from the cockpit, and sealed 
the letter with wax, affixing a larger seal than he 
ordinarily used. " This," said he, " is no time to ap- 
pear hurried and informal." Captain Sir Frederic 
Thesiger, who acted as his aide-de-camp, carried this 
letter with a flag of truce. Meantime the fire of the 
ships ahead, and the approach of the - Ramillies " 
and "Defence," from Sir Hyde's division, which had 
now worked near enough to alarm the enemy, though 
not to injure them, silenced the remainder of the 
Danish line to the eastward of the Trekroner. That 
battery, however, continued its fire. This formidable 
work, owing to the want of the ships which had been 
destined to attack it, and the inadequate force of 
Riou's little squadron, was comparatively uninjured : 
towards the close of the action it had been manned 
with nearly fifteen hundred men ; and the intention 
of storming it, for which every preparation had been 
made, was abandoned as impracticable. 

During Thesiger's absence, Nelson sent for Free- 
mantle from the " Ganges," and consulted with him 
and Foley, whether it was advisable to advance, with 
those ships which had sustained least damage, 
against the yet uninjured part of the Danish line. 
They were decidedly of opinion, that the best thing 
which could be done was, while the wind continued 



LIFE OF NELSON. 253 

fair, to remove the fleet out of the intricate channel, 
from which it had to retreat. In somewhat more 
than half an hour after Thesiger had been des- 
patched, the Danish adjutant-general Lindholm came, 
bearing a flag of truce : upon which the Trekroner 
ceased to fire, and the action closed, after four hours' 
continuance. He brought an inquiry from the 
prince, What was the object of Nelson's note ? The 
British admiral wrote in reply : " Lord Nelson's ob- 
ject in sending the flag of truce was humanity : he 
therefore consents that hostilities shall cease, and 
that the wounded Danes may be taken on shore. 
And Lord Nelson will take his prisoners out of the 
vessels, and burn or carry off his prizes as he shall 
think fit. Lord Nelson, with humble duty to His 
Royal Highness the Prince, will consider this the 
greatest victory he has ever gained, if it may be the 
cause of a happy reconciliation and union between 
his own most gracious sovereign and His Majesty 
the King of Denmark." Sir Frederic Thesiger was 
despatched a second time with the reply ; and the 
Danish adjutant-general was referred to the com- 
mander-in-chief for a conference upon this overture. 
Lindholm assenting to this, proceeded to the " Lon- 
don," which was riding at anchor full four miles off; 
and Nelson, losing not one of the critical moments 
which he had thus gained, made signal for his lead- 
ing ships to weigh in succession. They had the 
shoal to clear; they were much crippled, and their 
course was immediately under the guns of the Tre- 
kroner. 



254 LIFE OF NELSON. 

The " Monarch " led the way. This ship had re- 
ceived six and twenty shot between wind and water. 
She had not a shroud standing ; there was a double- 
headed shot in the heart of her foremast, and the 
slightest wind would have sent every mast* over 
her side. The imminent danger from which Nelson 
had extricated himself, soon became apparent ; the 
" Monarch " touched immediately upon a shoal, over 
which she was pushed by the " Ganges " taking her 
amidships ; the " Glatton " went clear ; but the other 
two, the " Defiance " and the " Elephant," grounded 
about a mile from the Trekroner, and there remained 
fixed, for many hours, in spite of all the exertions of 
their wearied crews. The " Desiree " frigate also, at 
the other end of the line, having gone, toward the 
close of the action, to assist the " Bellona," became 
fast on the same shoal. Nelson left the " Elephant," 
soon after she took the ground, to follow Lindholm. 
The heat of action was over ; and that kind of feeling, 
which the surrounding scene of havoc was so well 
fitted to produce, pressed heavily upon his exhausted 
spirits. The sky had suddenly become overcast; 
white flags were waving from the mastheads of so 
many shattered ships : — the slaughter had ceased, but 

* It would have been well if the fleet, before they went under the 
batteries, had left their spare spars moored out of reach of shot. 
Many would have been saved which were destroyed lying on the 
booms, and the hurt done by their splinters would have been saved 
also. Small craft could have towed them up when they were required: 
and, after such an action, so many must necessarily be wanted, that, if 
those which were not in use were wounded, it might thus have been 
rendered impossible to refit the ships. 



LIFE OF NELSON. 255 

the grief was to come ; for the account of the dead 
was not yet made up, and no man could tell for what 
friends he might have to mourn. The very silence 
which follows the cessation of such a battle becomes 
a weight upon the heart at first, rather than a relief ; 
and though the work of mutual destruction was at an 
end, the " Danbrog" was, at this time, drifting about 
in flames ; presently she blew up ; while our boats, 
which had put off in all directions to assist her, were 
endeavouring to rescue her devoted crew, few of 
whom could be saved. The fate of these men, after 
the gallantry which they had displayed, particularly 
affected Nelson : for there was nothing in this action 
of that indignation against the enemy, and that im- 
pression of retributive justice, which, at the Nile, had 
given a sterner temper to his mind, and a sense of 
austere delight, in beholding the vengeance of which 
he was the appointed minister. The Danes were an 
honourable foe ; they were of English mould as well 
as English blood ; and now that the battle had ceased, 
he regarded them rather as brethren than as ene- 
mies. There was another reflection also which min- 
gled with these melancholy thoughts, and predisposed 
him to receive them. He was not here master of his 
own movements, as at Egypt : he had won the day 
by disobeying his orders; and, in so far as he had 
been successful, had convicted the commander-in- 
chief of an error in judgment. " Well," said he, as 
he left the " Elephant," " I have fought contrary to 
orders, and I shall, perhaps, be hanged. Never 
mind : let them ! " 



256 LIFE OF NELSON. 

This was the language of a man, who, while he is 
giving utterance to an uneasy thought, clothes it half 
in jest, because he half repents that it has been dis- 
closed. His services had been too eminent on that 
day, his judgment too conspicuous, his success too 
signal, for any commander, however jealous of his 
own authority, or envious of another's merits, to ex- 
press anything but satisfaction and gratitude, which 
Sir Hyde heartily felt, and sincerely expressed. It 
was speedily agreed that there should be a suspension 
of hostilities for four and twenty hours, that all the 
prizes should be surrendered, and the wounded 
Danes carried on shore. There was a pressing neces- 
sity for this ; for the Danes, either from too much 
confidence in the strength of their position, and the 
difficulty of the channel, or supposing that the 
wounded might be carried to shore during the action, 
which was found totally impracticable, or, perhaps, 
from the confusion which the attack excited, had pro- 
vided no surgeons : so that, when our men boarded 
the captured ships, they found many of the mangled 
and mutilated Danes bleeding to death, for want of 
proper assistance — a scene, of all others, the most 
shocking to a brave man's feelings. 

The boats of Sir Hyde's division were actively em- 
ployed all night in bringing out the prizes, and in 
getting afloat the ships which were on shore. At 
daybreak, Nelson, who had slept in his own ship, the 
"St. George," rowed to the "Elephant;" and his 
delight in finding her afloat seemed to give him new 
life. There he took a hasty breakfast, praising the 



LIFE OF NELSON. 257 

men for their exertions, and then pushed off to the 
prizes, which had not yet been removed. The " Zea- 
land," 74, the last which struck, had drifted on the 
shoal under the Trekroner ; and relying, as it seems, 
upon the protection which that battery might have 
afforded, refused to acknowledge herself captured ; 
saying, that though it was true her flag was not to 
be seen, her pendant was still flying. Nelson ordered 
one of our brigs and three longboats to approach her, 
and rowed up himself to one of the enemy's ships, 
to communicate with the commodore. This officer 
proved to be an old acquaintance, whom he had 
known in the West Indies : so he invited himself on 
board ; and, with that urbanity, as well as decision, 
which always characterised him, urged his claim to 
the " Zealand " so well that it was admitted. The 
men from the boats lashed a cable round her bow- 
sprit, and the gun-vessel towed her away. It is 
affirmed, and probably with truth, that the Danes felt 
more pain at beholding this, than at all their misfor- 
tunes on the preceding day ; and one of the offi- 
cers, Commodore Steen Bille, went to the Trekroner 
Battery, and asked the commander why he had not 
sunk the " Zealand," rather than suffer her thus to be 
carried off by the enemy ? 

This was indeed a mournful day for Copenhagen. 
It was Good Friday ; but the general agitation, and 
the mourning which was in every house, made all 
distinction of days be forgotten. There were, at that 
hour, thousands in that city who felt, and more, per- 
haps, who needed, the consolations of Christianity ; 
17 



258 LIFE OF NELSON. 

— but few or none who could be calm enough to 
think of its observances. The English were actively 
employed in refitting their own ships, securing the 
prizes, and distributing the prisoners ; the Danes, in 
carrying on shore and disposing of the wounded and 
the dead. It had been a murderous action. Our 
loss, in killed and wounded, was nine hundred and 
fifty-three. Part of this slaughter might have been 
spared. The commanding officer of the troops on 
board one of our ships, asked where his men should 
be stationed ? He was told that they could be of no 
use ; that they were not near enough for musketry, 
and were not wanted at the guns ; they had, there- 
fore, better go below. This, he said, was impossible, 
— it would be a digrace that could never be wiped 
away. They were, therefore, drawn up upon the 
gangway, to satisfy this cruel point of honour ; and 
there, without the possibility of annoying the enemy, 
they were mown down ! The loss of the Danes, in- 
cluding prisoners, amounted to about six thousand. 
The negotiations, meantime, went on ; and it was 
agreed that Nelson should have an interview with 
the prince the following day. Hardy and Freemantle 
landed with him. This was a thing as unexampled 
as the other circumstances of the battle. A strong 
guard was appointed to escort him to the palace — as 
much for the purpose of security as of honour. The 
populace, according to the British account, showed a 
mixture of admiration, curiosity, and displeasure, at 
beholding that man in the midst of them who had 
inflicted such wounds upon Denmark. But there were 



LIFE OF NELSON. 259 

neither acclamations nor murmurs. " The people," 
says a Dane, " did not degrade themselves with the 
former, nor disgrace themselves with the latter : the 
admiral was received as one brave enemy ever ought 
to receive another — he was received with respect." 
The preliminaries of the negotiation were adjusted 
at this interview. During the repast which followed, 
Nelson, with all the sincerity of his character, bore 
willing testimony to the valour of his foes. He told 
the prince, that he had been in a hundred and five 
engagements, but that this was the most tremendous 
of all, " The French," he said, "fought bravely; but 
they could not have stood for one hour the fight which 
the Danes had supported for four. " He requested 
that ' Villemoes might be introduced to him ; and 
shaking hands with the youth, told the prince, that 
he ought to be made an admiral. The prince replied : 
" If, my lord, I am to make all my brave officers ad- 
mirals, I should have no captains or lieutenants in 
my service." 

The sympathy of the Danes for their countrymen 
who had bled in their defence, was not weakened by 
distance of time or place in this instance. Things 
needful for the service, or the comfort of the wounded 
were sent in profusion to the hospitals, till the super- 
intendents gave public notice that they could receive 
no more. On the third day after the action the dead 
were buried in the naval churchyard : the ceremony 
was made as public and as solemn as the occasion 
required ; — such a procession had never before been 
seen in that, or, perhaps, in any other city. A public 



260 LIFE OF NELSON. 

monument was erected upon the spot where the slain 
were gathered together. A subscription was opened 
on the day of the funeral for the relief of the sufferers, 
and collections in aid of it made throughout all the 
churches in the kingdom. This appeal to the feelings 
of the people was made with circumstances which 
gave it full effect. A monument was raised in the 
midst of the church, surmounted by the Danish col- 
ours : young maiden's, dressed in white, stood round 
it, with either one who had been wounded in the 
battle or the widow and orphans of some one who 
had fallen : a suitable oration was delivered from the 
pulpit, and patriotic hymns and songs were afterwards 
performed. Medals were distributed to all the offi- 
cers, and to the men who had distinguished them- 
selves. Poets and painters vied with each other in 
celebrating a battle, which, disastrous as it was, had 
yet been honourable to their country : some, with 
pardonable sophistry, represented the advantage of 
the day as on their own side. One writer discovered 
a more curious, but less disputable ground of satis- 
faction, in the reflection that Nelson, as may be in- 
ferred from his name, was of Danish descent ; and 
his actions, therefore, the Dane argued, were at- 
tributable to Danish valour. 

The negotiation was continued during the five fol- 
lowing days ; and, in that interval, the prizes were 
disposed of, in a manner which was little approved 
by Nelson. Six line of battle ships and eight praams 
had been taken. Of these, the " Holstein," 64, was 
the only one which was sent home. The "Zea- 



LIFE OF NELSON. 261 

land " was a finer ship : but the " Zealand," and all 
the others, were burnt, and their brass battering 
cannon sunk with the hulls in such shoal water, that, 
when the fleet returned from Revel, they found the 
Danes, with craft over the wrecks, employed in get- 
ting the guns up again. Nelson, though he forbore 
from any public expression of displeasure at seeing 
the proofs and trophies of his victory destroyed, did 
not forget to represent to the Admiralty the case of 
those who were thus deprived of their prize money. 
" Whether," said he to earl St. Vincent, " Sir Hyde 
Parker may mention the subject to you, I know 
not ; for he is rich, and does not want it : nor is it, 
you will believe me, any desire to get a few hundred 
pounds, that actuates me to address this letter 
to you; but justice to the brave officers and men 
who fought on that day. It is true our opponents 
were in hulks and floats, only adapted for the posi- 
tion they were in : but that made our battle so much 
the harder, and victory so much the more difficult to 
obtain. Believe me, I have weighed all circum- 
stances ; and, in my conscience, I think that the king 
should send a gracious message to the House of 
Commons for a gift to this fleet : for what must be 
the natural feelings of the officers and men belonging 
to it, to see their rich commander-in-chief burn all 
the fruits of their victory,— which, if fitted up, and 
sent to England (as many of them might have been, 
by dismantling part of our fleet) would have sold for 
a good round sum." 

On the 9th Nelson landed again, to conclude the 



262 LIFE OF NELSON. 

terms of the armistice. During its continuance the 
armed ships and vessels of Denmark were to remain 
in their then actual situation, as to armament, equip- 
ment, and hostile position : and the treaty of armed 
neutrality, as far as related to the co-operation of 
Denmark, was suspended. The prisoners were to be 
sent on shore : an acknowledgment being given for 
them, and for the wounded also, that they might be 
carried to Great Britain's credit in the account of 
war, in case hostilities should be renewed. The 
British fleet was allowed to provide itself with all 
things requisite for the health and comfort of its 
men. A difficulty arose respecting the duration of 
the armistice. The Danish Commissioners fairly 
stated their fears of Russia ; and Nelson, with that 
frankness, which sound policy and the sense of 
power seem often to require as well as justify in di- 
plomacy, told them, his reason for demanding a long 
term was, that he might have time to act against 
the Russian fleet, and then return to Copenhagen. 
Neither party would yield upon this point ; and one 
of the Danes hinted at the renewal of hostilities. 
" Renew hostilities ! " cried Nelson to one of his 
friends, — for he understood French enough to com- 
prehend what was said, though not to answer it in 
the same language. " Tell him we are ready at a 
moment ! — ready to bombard this very night ! " The 
conference, however, proceeded amicably on both 
sides ; and as the commissioners could not agree 
upon this head, they broke up, leaving Nelson to set- 
tle it with the prince. A levee was held forthwith 



LIFE OF NELSON. 263 

in one of the staterooms ; a scene well suited for 
such a consultation, for all these rooms had been 
stripped of their furniture, in fear of a bombardment. 
To a bombardment also Nelson was looking at this 
time ; fatigue, and anxiety, and vexation at the dila- 
tory measures of the commander-in-chief, combined 
to make him irritable ; and as he was on the way to the 
prince's dining-room, he whispered to the officer on 
whose arm he was leaning, " Though I have only one 
eye, I can see that all this will burn well." After 
dinner, he was closeted with the prince, and they 
agreed that the armistice should continue fourteen 
weeks ; and that, at its termination, fourteen days' 
notice should be given before the recommencement 
of hostilities. 

An official account of the battle was published by 
Olfret Fischer, the Danish commander-in-chief, in 
which it was asserted that our force was greatly 
superior ; nevertheless, that two of our ships of the 
line had struck, that the others were so weakened, 
and especially Lord Nelson's own ship, as to fire only 
single shots for an hour before the end of the action ; 
and that this hero himself, in the middle and very 
heat of the conflict, sent a flag of truce on shore, to 
propose a cessation of hostilities. For the truth of 
this account the Dane appealed to the prince, and all 
those who, like him, had been eye-witnesses of the 
scene. Nelson was exceedingly indignant at such a 
statement, and addressed a letter in confutation of it 
to the adjutant-general Lindholm, thinking this in- 
cumbent upon him for the information of the prince, 



264 LIFE OF NELSON. 

since His Royal Highness had been appealed to as a 
witness : " Otherwise," said he, " had Commodore 
Fischer confined himself to his own veracity, I should 
have treated his official letter with the contempt it 
deserved, and allowed the world to appreciate the 
merits of the two contending officers." After point- 
ing out and detecting some of the misstatements in 
the account, he proceeds : " As to his nonsense 
about victory, His Royal Highness will not much 
credit him. I sunk, burnt, captured, or drove into 
the harbour, the whole line of defence to the south- 
ward of the Crown Islands. He says he is told that 
two British ships struck. Why did he not take pos- 
session of them ? I took possession of his as fast as 
they struck. The reason is clear — that he did not 
believe it : he must have known the falsity of the re- 
port. He states that the ship in which I had the 
honour to hoist my flag, fired latterly only single 
guns. It is true : for steady and cool were my brave 
fellows, and did not wish to throw away a single shot. 
He seems to exult that I sent on shore a flag of 
truce. You know, and His Royal Highness knows, 
that the guns fired from the shore could only fire 
through the Danish ships which had surrendered ; 
and that, if I fired at the shore, it could only be in 
the same manner. God forbid that I should destroy 
an unresisting Dane ! When they became my prison- 
ers, I became their protector." 

This letter was written in terms of great asperity 
against the Danish commander. Lindholm replied 
in a manner every way honourable to himself. He 



LIFE OF NELSON. 265 

vindicated the commodore in some points, and ex- 
cused him in others ; reminding Nelson, that every 
commander-in-chief was liable to receive incorrect 
reports. With a natural desire to represent the 
action in the most favourable light to Denmark, he 
took into the comparative strength of the two parties 
the ships which were aground, and which could not 
get into action ; and omitted the Trekroner, and the 
batteries upon Amak Island. He disclaimed all idea 
of claiming as a victory " what, to every intent and 
purpose," said he, " was a defeat — but not an in- 
glorious one. As to your lordship's motive for send- 
ing a flag of truce, it never can be misconstrued ; 
and your subsequent conduct has sufficiently shown 
that humanity is always the companion of true valour. 
You have done more ; you have shown yourself a 
friend to the re-establishment of peace and good 
harmony between this country and Great Britain. 
It is, therefore, with the sincerest esteem I shall 
always feel myself attached to your lordship." Thus 
handsomely winding up his reply, he soothed and 
contented Nelson ; who, drawing up a memorandum 
of the comparative force of the two parties for his 
own satisfaction, assured Lindholm, that if the com- 
modore's statement had been in the same manly and 
honourable strain, he would have been the last man 
to have noticed any little inaccuracies which might 
get into a commander-in-chief's public letter. 

For the battle of Copenhagen, Nelson was raised 
to the rank of Viscount — an inadequate mark of re- 
ward for services so splendid, and of such para- 



266 LIFE OF NELSON. 

mount importance to the dearest interests of England. 
There was, however, some prudence in dealing out 
honours to him step by step : had he lived long 
enough, he would have fought his way up to a duke- 
dom. 



LIFE OF NELSON. 267 



CHAPTER VIII. 

When Nelson informed Earl St. Vincent that the 
armistice had been concluded, he told him also, with- 
out reserve, his own discontent at the dilatoriness 
and indecision which he witnessed, and could not 
remedy. " No man," said he, " but those who are on 
the spot, can tell what I have gone through, and do 
suffer. I make no scruple in saying, that I would 
have been at Revel fourteen days ago ! that, without 
this armistice, the fleet would never have gone, but 
by order of the Admiralty : and with it, I dare say, 
we shall not go this week. I wanted Sir Hyde to let 
me, at least, go and cruise off Carlscrona, to prevent 
the Revel ships from getting in. I said I would not 
go to Revel, to take any of those laurels which I was 
sure he would reap there. Think for me, my dear 
lord ; — and if I have deserved well, let me return : if 
ill, for Heaven's sake, supersede me, — for I cannot 
exist in this state." 

Fatigue, incessant anxiety, and a climate little 
suited to one of a tender constitution, which had now 
for many years been accustomed to more genial lati- 
tudes, made him, at this time, seriously determine 
upon returning home. " If the northern business 
were not settled," he said, " they must send more 
admirals: for the keen air of the north had cut him 



268 LIFE OF NELSON. 

to the heart." He felt the want of activity and de- 
cision in the commander-in-chief more keenly ; and 
this affected his spirits, and, consequently, his health, 
more than the inclemency of the Baltic. Soon after 
the armistice was signed, Sir Hyde proceeded to the 
eastward, with such ships as were fit for service, 
leaving Nelson to follow with the rest, as soon as 
those which had received slight damages should be 
repaired, and the rest sent to England. In passing 
between the isles of Amak and Salthom, most of the 
ships touched the ground, and some of them stuck 
fast for a while : no serious injury, however, was sus- 
tained. It was intended to act against the Russians 
first, before the breaking up of the frost should 
enable them to leave Revel ; but learning, on the way, 
that the Swedes had put to sea to effect a junction 
with them, Sir Hyde altered his course, in hopes of 
intercepting this part of the enemy's force. Nelson 
had, at this time, provided for the more pressing 
emergencies of the service, and prepared, on the 18th, 
to follow the fleet. The "St. George" drew too 
much water to pass the channel between the isles 
without being lightened : the guns were therefore 
taken out, and put on board an American vessel : a 
contrary wind, however, prevented Nelson from mov- 
ing; and on that same evening, while he was thus 
delayed, information reached him of the relative 
situation of the Swedish and British fleets, and 
the probability of an action. The fleet was nearly 
ten leagues distant ; and both wind and current con- 
trary : but it was not possible that Nelson could wait 



LIFE OF NELSON. 269 

for a favourable season, under such an expectation. 
He ordered his boat immediately, and stepped into 
it. Night was setting in — one of the cold spring 
nights of the North — and it was discovered, soon 
after they had left the ship, that in their haste they 
had forgotten to provide him with a boat cloak. He, 
however, forbade them to return for one : and when 
one of his companions offered his own greatcoat, and 
urged him to make use of it, he replied, " I thank 
you very much — but, to tell you the truth, my anx- 
iety keeps me sufficiently warm at present." 

" Do you think," said he, presently, " that our fleet 
has quitted Bornholm ? If it has, we must follow it 
to Carlscrona." About midnight he reached it, and 
once more got on board the " Elephant." On the 
following morning the Swedes were discovered : but 
they, as soon as they perceived the English approach- 
ing, retired and took shelter in Carlscrona, behind 
the batteries on the island, at the entrance of that 
port. Sir Hyde sent in a flag of truce, stating that 
Denmark had concluded an armistice, and requiring 
an explicit declaration from the court of Sweden, 
whether it would adhere to, or abandon, the hostile 
measures which it had taken against the rights and 
interests of Great Britain ? The commander, Vice- 
Admiral Cronstadt, replied, " that he could not 
answer a question which did not come within the 
particular circle of his duty ; but that the king was 
then at Malmoe, and would soon be at Carlscrona." 
Gustavus shortly afterwards arrived, and an answer 
was then returned to this effect : " That His Swedish 



270 LIFE OF NELSON. 

Majesty would not for a moment fail to fulfil, with 
fidelity, and sincerity, the engagements he had entered 
into with his allies ; but he would not refuse to listen 
to equitable proposals, made by deputies furnished 
with proper authority by the King of Great Britain 
to the united northern powers." Satisfied with this 
answer, and with the known disposition of the Swed- 
ish court, Sir Hyde sailed for the Gulf of Finland : 
but he had not proceeded far before a despatch boat, 
from the Russian ambassador at Copenhagen, arrived, 
bringing intelligence of the death of the Emperor 
Paul ; and that his successor Alexander, had accepted 
the offer made by England to his father, of termi- 
nating the dispute by a convention ; the British admiral 
was, therefore, required to desist from all further 
hostilities. 

It was Nelson's maxim, that, to negotiate with 
effect force should be at hand, and in a situation to 
act. The fleet, having been reinforced from England, 
amounted to eighteen sail of the line ; and the wind 
was fair for Revel. There he would have sailed im- 
mediately, to place himself between that division of 
the Russian fleet and the squadron at Cronstadt, in 
case this offer should prove insincere. Sir Hyde, on 
the other hand, believed that the death of Paul had 
effected all which was necessary. The manner of 
that death, indeed, rendered it apparent, that a change 
of policy would take place in the Cabinet of Peters- 
burgh : — but Nelson never trusted anything to the 
uncertain events of time, which could possibly be 
secured by promptitude or resolution. It was not, 



LIFE OF NELSON, 271 

therefore, without severe mortification, that he saw 
the commander-in-chief return to the coast of Zea- 
land, and anchor in Kioge Bay— there to wait 
patiently for what might happen. There the fleet 
remained, till despatches arrived from home, on the 
5th of May, recalling Sir Hyde, and appointing Nel- 
son commander-in-chief. 

Nelson wrote to Earl St. Vincent that he was un- 
able to hold this honourable station. Admiral Graves 
also was so ill as to be confined to his bed ; and he 
entreated that some person might come out and take 
the command. " I will endeavour," said he, " to do 
my best while I remain ; but, my dear lord, I shall 
either soon go to heaven, I hope, or must rest quiet 
for a time. If Sir Hyde were gone, I would now be 
under sail." On the day when this was written he 
received news of his appointment. Not a moment 
was now lost. His first signal, as commander-in- 
chief, was to hoist in all launches, and prepare to 
weigh ; and on the 7th he sailed from Kioge. Part 
of his fleet was left at Bornholm, to watch the 
Swedes : from whom he required and obtained an 
assurance, that the British trade in the Cattegat, and 
in the Baltic, should not be molested ; and saying 
how unpleasant it would be to him if anything should 
happen which might, for a moment, disturb the re- 
turning harmony between Sweden and Great Britain, 
he apprised them that he was not directed to abstain 
from hostilities should he meet with the Swedish 
fleet at sea. Meantime, he himself, with ten sail of 
the line, two frigates, a brig and a schooner, made 



272 LIFE OF NELSON. 

for the Gulf of Finland. Paul, in one of the freaks 
of his tyranny, had seized upon all the British effects 
in Russia, and even considered British subjects as 
his prisoners. " I will have all the English shipping 
and property restored," said Nelson, " but I will do 
nothing violently, — neither commit my country, nor 
suffer Russia, to mix the affairs of Denmark or Swe- 
den with the detention of our ships." The wind was 
fair, and carried him, in four days, to Revel Roads. 
But the bay had been clear of firm ice on the 29th of 
April, while the English were lying idly at Kioge. 
The Russians had cut through the ice in the mole, 
six feet thick, and their whole squadron had sailed 
for Cronstadt on the third. Before that time it had 
lain at the mercy of the English. — " Nothing," Nelson 
said, " if it had been right to make the attack, could 
have saved one ship of them in two hours after our 
entering the bay." 

It so happened that there was no cause to regret 
the opportunity which had been lost, and Nelson im- 
mediately put the intentions of Russia to the proof. 
He sent on shore, to say that he came with friendly 
views, and was ready to return a salute. On their 
part the salute was delayed, till a message was sent 
to them to inquire for what reason ; and the officer, 
whose neglect had occasioned the delay, was put 
under arrest. Nelson wrote to the emperor, propos- 
ing to wait on him personally and congratulate him on 
his accession, and urging the immediate release of 
British subjects and restoration of British property. 

The answer arrived on the 16th. Nelson, mean- 



LIFE OF NELSON. 273 

time, had exchanged visits with the governor, and 
the most friendly intercourse had subsisted between 
the ships and the shore. Alexander's ministers, in 
their reply, expressed their surprise at the arrival of 
a British fleet in a Russian port, and their wish that 
it should return ; they professed, on the part of 
Russia, the most friendly disposition towards Great 
Britain ; but declined the personal visit of Lord Nel- 
son, unless he came in a single ship. There was a 
suspicion implied in this which stung Nelson, and he 
said the Russian ministers would never have written 
thus if their fleet had been at Revel. He wrote an 
immediate reply, expressing what he felt; he told 
the court of Petersburgh, " that the word of a British 
admiral, when given in explanation of any part of his 
conduct, was as sacred as that of any sovereign's in 
Europe." And he repeated, " that, under other cir- 
cumstances, it would have been his anxious wish to 
have paid his personal respects to the emperor, and 
signed with his own hand, the act of amity between 
the two countries." Having despatched this, he 
stood out to sea immediately, leaving a brig to bring 
off the provisions which had been contracted for, and 
to settle the accounts. " I hope all is right," said he, 
writing to our ambassador at Berlin; "but seamen 
are but bad negotiators, for we put to issue in five 
minutes what diplomatic forms would be five months 
doing." 

On his way down the Baltic, however, he met the 
Russian Admiral Tchitchagof, whom the emperor, in 
reply to Sir Hyde's overtures, had sent to communi- 
18 



274 LIFE OF NELSON. 

cate personally with the British commander-in-chief. 
The reply was such as had been wished and expect- 
ed ; and these negotiators going, seaman-like, straight 
to their object, satisfied each other of the friendly 
intentions of their respective Governments. Nelson 
then anchored off Rostock ; and there he received 
an answer to his last despatch from Revel, in 
wfyich the Russian court expressed their regret that 
there should have been any misconception between 
them, — informed him that the British vessels, which 
Paul had detained, were ordered to be liberated, and 
invited him to Petersburgh in whatever mode might 
be most agreeable to himself. Other honours await- 
ed him : — the Duke of Mecklenburgh Strelitz, the 
queen's brother, came to visit him on board his ship ; 
and towns, from the inland parts of Mecklenburgh, 
sent deputations, with their public books of record, 
that they might have the name of Nelson in them, 
written by his own hand. 

From Rostock the fleet returned to Kioge Bay. 
Nelson saw that the temper of the Danes towards 
England was such as naturally arose from the chas- 
tisement which they had so recently received. •• In 
this nation," said he, " we shall not be forgiven for 
having the upper hand of them : — I only thank God 
we have, or they would try to humble us to the dust." 
He saw also that the Danish Cabinet was completely 
subservient to France : a French officer was, at this 
time, the companion and counsellor of the Crown 
Prince ; and things were done in such open violation 
of the armistice, that Nelson thought a second inflic- 



LIFE OF NELSON. 275 

tion of vengeance would soon be necessary. He 
wrote to the Admiralty, requesting a clear and ex- 
plicit reply to his inquiry, Whether the commander- 
in-chief was at liberty to hold the language becoming 
a British admiral ? — " Which very probably," said he, 
" if I am here, will break the armistice, and set Copen- 
hagen in a blaze. I see everything which is dirty and 
mean going on, and the Prince Royal at the head of 
it. Ships have been masted, guns taken on board, 
floating batteries prepared, — and, except hauling out 
and completing their rigging.everything has been done 
in defiance of the treaty. My heart burns at seeing the 
word of a prince, nearly allied to our good king, so 
falsified ; but his conduct is such that he will lose 
his kingdom if he goes on, for Jacobins rule in Den- 
mark. I have made no representations yet, as it 
would be useless to do so until I have the power of 
correction. All I beg, in the name of the future 
commander-in-chief, is, that the orders may be clear ; 
for enough is done to break twenty treaties, if it 
should be wished, or to make the Prince Royal hum- 
ble himself before British generosity." 

Nelson was not deceived in his judgment of the 
Danish Cabinet, but the battle of Copenhagen had 
crippled its power. The death of the Czar Paul had 
broken the confederacy ; and that Cabinet, therefore, 
was compelled to defer, till a more convenient sea- 
son, the indulgence of its enmity towards Great 
Britain. Soon afterwards, Admiral Sir Charles 
Maurice Pole arrived to take the command. The 
business, military and political, had by that time 



276 LIF t E OF NELSON. 

been so far completed, that the presence of the 
British fleet soon became no longer necessary. Sir 
Charles, however, made the short time of his com- 
mand memorable, by passing the Great Belt, for the 
first time, with line of battle ships ; working through 
the channel against adverse winds. When Nelson 
left the fleet, this speedy termination of the expedi- 
tion, though confidently expected, was not certain ; 
and he, in his unwillingness to weaken the British 
force, thought at one time of traversing Jutland in 
his boat, by the canal, to Tonningen on the Eyder, 
and finding his way home from thence. This inten- 
tion was not executed ; but he returned in a brig, 
declining to accept a frigate — which few admirals 
would have done — especially if, like him, they suffered 
from sea-sickness in a small vessel. On his arrival 
at Yarmouth, the first thing he did was to visit the 
hospital, and see the men who had been wounded 
in the late battle : — that victory which had added 
new glory to the name of Nelson, and which was of 
more importance even than the battle of the Nile, to 
the honour and strength and security of England. 

He had not been many weeks on shore before he 
was called upon to undertake a service for which no 
Nelson was required. Buonaparte, who was now 
first consul, and in reality sole ruler of France, was 
making preparations, upon a great scale, for invading 
England : but his schemes in the Baltic had been 
baffled ; fleets could not be created as they were 
wanted ; and his armies, therefore, were to come 
over in gun-boats and such small craft as could be 



LIFE OF NELSON. 277 

rapidly built or collected for the occasion. From the 
former Governments of France such threats have 
only been matter of insult and policy : in Buonaparte 
they were sincere-for this adventurer, intoxicated 
with success, already began to imagine that all 
things were to be submitted to his fortune. We had 
not.'at that time, proved the superiority of our sol- 
diers over the French ; and the unreflecting multitude 
were not to be persuaded that an invasion could only 
be effected by numerous and powerful fleets. A 
general alarm was excited ; and, in condescension to 
This unworthy feeling, Nelson was appointed to a 
command, extending from Oxfordness to Beachy 
Head, on both shores :— a sort of service, he said, 
for which he felt no other ability than what might be 
found in his zeal. 

To this service, however, such as it was, he ap- 
plied with his wonted alacrity ; and having hoisted 
his flag in the " Medusa" frigate, went to reconnoitre 
Boulogne; the point from which it was supposed the 
great attempt would be made, and which the French, 
in fear of an attack themselves, were fortifying with 
all care. He approached near enough to sink two of 
their floating batteries and destroy a few gun-boats, 
which were without the pier: what damage was done 
within could not be ascertained. "Boulogne," he 
said, " was certainly not a very pleasant place that 
morning ;— but," he added, " it is not my wish to injure 
the poor inhabitants, and the town is spared as much 
as the nature of the service will admit." Enough 
was done to show the enemy that they could not, 



278 LIFE OF NELSON. 

with impunity, come outside their own ports. Nel- 
son was satisfied, by what he saw, that they meant 
to make an attempt from this place, but that it was 
impracticable ; for the least wind at W. N. W. and 
they were lost. The ports of Flushing and Flanders 
were better points: there we could not tell by our 
eyes what means of transport were provided. From 
thence, therefore, if it came forth at all, the expedi- 
tion would come : — " And what a forlorn undertak- 
ing ! " said he. " Consider cross tides, &c. As for 
rowing, that is impossible. It is perfectly right to be 
prepared for a mad Government ; but, with the active 
force which has been given me, I may pronounce it 
almost impracticable." 

That force had been got together with an alacrity 
which has seldom been equalled. On the 28th of 
July we were, in Nelson's own words, literally at the 
foundation of our fabric of defence : and twelve days 
afterwards we were so prepared on the enemy's 
coast, that he did not believe they could get three 
miles from their ports. The " Medusa," returning 
to our own shores, anchored in the rolling ground 
off Harwich ; and, when Nelson wished to get to the 
Nore in her, the wind rendered it impossible to pro- 
ceed there by the usual channel. In haste to be at 
the Nore, remembering that he had been a tolerable 
pilot for the mouth of the Thames in his younger 
days, and thinking it necessary that he should know 
all that could be known of the navigation, he re- 
quested the maritime surveyor of the coast, Mr. 
Spence, to get him into the Swin, by any channel : 



LIFE OF NELSON. 279 

for neither the pilots which he had on board, nor the 
Harwich ones, would take charge of the ship. No 
vessel drawing more than fourteen feet had ever be- 
fore ventured over the Naze. Mr. Spence, however, 
who had surveyed the channel, carried her safely 
through. The channel has since been called Nelson's, 
though he himself wished it to be named after the 
" Medusa : " his name needed no new memorial. 

Nelson's eye was upon Flushing. " To take pos- 
session of that place," he said, "would be a week's 
expedition for four or five thousand troops." This, 
however required a consultation with the Admiralty ; 
and, that something might be done meantime, he 
resolved upon attacking the Flotilla in the mouth of 
Boulogne harbour ; owning, at the same time, that 
this boat-warfare was not exactly congenial to his 
feelings. Into Helvoet or Flushing he should be 
happy to lead, if Government turned their thoughts 
that way. " While I serve," said he, " I will do it 
actively, and to the very best of my abilities. I re- 
quire nursing like a child," he added ; " my mind 
carries me beyond my strength, and will do me up : 
— but such is my nature." 

The attack was made by the boats of the squadron 
in five divisions, under Captains Somerville, Parker, 
Cotgrave, Jones, and Conn. The previous essay had 
taught the French the weak parts of their position ; 
and they had omitted no means of strengthening it, 
and of guarding against the expected attempt. The 
boats put off about half an hour before midnight ; 
but, owing to the darkness, and the tide and halftide, 



280 LIFE OF NELSON. 

which must always make night attacks so uncertain 
on the coasts of the channel, the divisions separated. 
One could not arrive at all; another not till near 
daybreak. The others made their attack gallantly, 
but the enemy were fully prepared ; every vessel was 
defended by long poles, headed with iron spikes, pro- 
jecting from their sides ; strong nettings were braced 
up to their lower yards ; they were moored by the 
bottom to the shore, and chained one to another : 
they were strongly manned with soldiers, and pro- 
tected by land batteries, and the shore was lined with 
troops. Many were taken possession of ; and, though 
they could not have been brought out, would have 
been burnt, had not the French resorted to a mode 
of offence, which they had often used, but which no 
other people have ever been wicked enough to em- 
ploy. The moment the firing ceased on board one 
of their own vessels, they fired upon it from the 
shore, perfectly regardless of their own men. 

The commander of one of the French divisions 
acted like a generous enemy. He hailed the boats 
as they approached, and cried out, in English : " Let 
me advise you, my brave Englishmen, to keep your 
distance : you can do nothing here ; and it is only 
uselessly shedding the blood of brave men to make 
the attempt." The French official account boasted 
of the victory. " The combat," it said, " took place 
in sight of both countries ; it was the first of the 
kind, and the historian would have cause to make 
this remark." They guessed our loss at four or five 
hundred : — it amounted to one hundred and seventy- 



LIFE OF NELSON. 281 

two. In his private letters to the Admiralty Nelson 
affirmed, that had our force arrived as he intended, it 
was not all the chains in France which could have pre- 
vented our men from bringing off the whole of the ves- 
sels. There had been no error committed, and never 
did Englishmen display more courage. Upon this 
point Nelson was fully satisfied : but he said he should 
never bring himself again to allow any attack, wherein 
he was not personally concerned ; and that his mind 
suffered more than if he had had a leg shot off in the 
aff?.ir. He grieved particularly for Captain Parker, 
— an excellent officer, to whom he was greatly at- 
tached, and who had an aged father looking to him 
for assistance. His thigh was shattered in the action ; 
and the wound proved mortal, after some weeks of 
suffering and manly resignation. During this inter- 
val Nelson's anxiety was very great. " Dear Parker 
is my child," said he ; "for I found him in distress." 
And, when he received the tidings of his death, he 
replied : — " You will judge of my feelings : God's will 
be done. I beg that his hair may be cut off and 
given me ; — it shall be buried in my grave. Poor 
Mr. Parker ! What a son has he lost ! If I were to 
say I was content, I should lie ; but I shall endeavour 
to submit with all the fortitude in my power. His 
loss has made a wound in my heart, which time 
will hardly heal." 

He now wished to be relieved from this service. 
The country, he said, had attached a confidence to 
his name, which he had submitted to. and therefore 
had cheerfully repaired to the station ; — but this boat 



282 LIFE OF NELSON. 

business, though it might be part of a great plan of 
invasion, could never be the only one, and he did 
not think it was a command for a vice-admiral. It 
was not that he wanted a more lucrative situation ; 
— for, seriously indisposed as he was, and low-spirited 
from private considerations, he did not know, if the 
Mediterranean were vacant, that he should be equal 
to undertake it. Just at this time the peace of Amiens 
was signed. Nelson rejoiced that the experiment was 
made, but was well aware that it was an experiment ; 
he saw what he called the misery of peace, unless 
the utmost vigilance and prudence were exerted : 
and he expressed, in bitter terms, his proper indigna- 
tion at the manner in which the mob of London 
welcomed the French general, who brought the rati- 
fication ; saying, " that they made him ashamed of 
his country." 

He had purchased a house and estate at Merton, 
in Surrey ; meaning to pass his days there in the 
society of Sir William and Lady Hamilton. This 
place he had never seen, till he was now welcomed 
there by the friends to whom he had so passionately 
devoted himself, and who were not less sincerely 
attached to him. The place, and everything which 
Lady Hamilton had done to it, delighted him ; and 
he declared that the longest liver should possess it 
all. The depression of spirits under which he had 
long laboured, arose from the disquietude in which 
this connection had involved him : a connection which 
it was not possible his father could behold without 
sorrow and displeasure. Mr. Nelson, however, was 






LIFE OF NELSON. 283 

soon convinced that the attachment, which Lady 
Nelson regarded with natural jealousy and resent- 
ment, did not, in reality, pass the bounds of ardent 
and romantic admiration : a passion which the man- 
ners and accomplishments of Lady Hamilton, fasci- 
nating as they were, would not have been able to 
excite, if they had not been accompanied by more 
uncommon intellectual endowments, and by a char- 
acter which, both in its strength and in its weakness, 
resembled his own. It did not, therefore, require 
much explanation to reconcile him to his son ; — an 
event the more essential to Nelson's happiness, be- 
cause, a few months afterwards the good old man 
died, at the age of seventy-nine. 

Soon after the conclusion of peace, tidings arrived 
of our final and decisive successes in Egypt : in con- 
sequence of which, the Common Council voted their 
thanks to the army and navy for bringing the cam- 
paign to so glorious a conclusion. When Nelson, 
after the action of Cape St. Vincent, had been enter- 
tained at a City feast, he had observed to the Lord 
Mayor, " that, if the City continued its generosity, 
the navy would ruin them in gifts." To which the 
Lord Mayor replied, putting his hand upon the ad- 
miral's shoulder : " Do you find victories, and we 
will find rewards." Nelson, as he said, had kept his 
word — had doubly fulfilled his part of the contract — 
but no thanks had been voted for the battle of Copen- 
hagen ; and feeling that he and his companions in 
that day's glory had a fair and honourable claim to 
this reward, he took the present opportunity of ad- 



284 LIFE OF NELSON. 

dressing a letter to the Lord Mayor, oomplaining of 
the omission and the injustice. " The smallest serv- 
ices," said he, " rendered by the army or navy to the 
country, have been always noticed by the great city 
of London, with one exception — the glorious second 
of April — a day, when the greatest dangers of navi- 
gation were overcome ; and the Danish force, which 
they thought impregnable, totally taken or destroyed, 
by the consummate skill of our commanders, and by 
the undaunted bravery of as gallant a band as ever 
defended the rights of this country. For myself, if I 
were only personally concerned, I should bear the 
stigma, attempted to be now first placed upon my 
brow, with humility. But, my lord, I am the natural 
guardian of the fame of the officers of the navy, army, 
and marines, who fought and so profusely bled, 
under my command, on that day. Again, I disclaim 
for myself more merit than naturally falls to a success- 
ful commander ; but when I am called upon to speak 
of the merits of the captains of His Majesty's ships, 
and of the officers and men, whether seamen, marines, 
or soldiers, whom I that day had the happiness to 
command, I then say, that never was the glory of 
this country upheld with more determined bravery 
than on that occasion — and, if I may be allowed to 
give an opinion as a Briton, then I say, that more 
important service was never rendered to our king 
and country. It is my duty, my lord, to prove to the 
brave fellows, my companions in danger, that I have 
not failed, at every proper place, to represent, as well 
as I am able, their bravery and meritorious conduct." 






LIFE OF NELSON. 285 

Another honour of greater import was withheld 
from the conquerors. The king had given* medals to 
those captains who were engaged in the battles of 
the 1st of June, of Cape St. Vincent, of Camper- 
down, and of the Nile. Then came the victory at 
Copenhagen, which Nelson truly called the most dif- 
ficult achievement, the hardest fought battle, the 
most glorious result that ever graced the annals of 
our country. He, of course, expected the medal ; 
and, in writing to Earl St. Vincent, said: "He 
longed to have it, and would not give it up to be 
made an English duke." The medal, however, was 
not given— " For what reason," said Nelson, " Lord 
St. Vincent best knows," words plainly implying a 
suspicion that it was withheld by some feeling of 
jealousy; and that suspicion estranged him during 
the remaining part of his life from one who had, at 
one time, been essentially, as well as sincerely, his 
friend, and of whose professional abilities he ever 
entertained the highest opinion. 

The happiness which Nelson enjoyed in the. society 
of his chosen friends was of no long continuance. 
Sir William Hamilton, who was far advanced in 
years, died early in 1803. He expired in his wife's 
arms, holding Nelson by the hand ; and almost in 
his last words left her to his protection, requesting 
him that he would see justice done her by the Gov- 
ernment, as he knew what she had done for her 
country. He left him her portrait in enamel, calling 
him his dearest friend, the most virtuous, loyal, and 
truly brave character he had ever known. The 



286 LIFE OF NELSON. 



codicil, containing this bequest, concluded with these 
words, " God bless him, and shame fall on those who 
do not say, Amen." Sir William's pension of ^1200 
a year ceased with his death. Nelson applied to Mr. 
Addington in Lady Hamilton's behalf, stating the 
important service which she had rendered to the fleet 
at Syracuse ; and Mr. Addington, it is said, acknowl- 
edged that she had a just claim upon the gratitude 
of the country. This barren acknowledgment was 
all that was obtained ; but a sum, equal to the pen- 
sion which her husband had enjoyed, was settled on 
her by Nelson, and paid in monthly payments during 
his life. A few weeks after this event the war was 
renewed ; and the day after His Majesty's message 
to Parliament, Nelson departed to take the command 
of the Mediterranean fleet. 

He took his station immediately off Toulon, and 
there, with incessant vigilance, waited for the com- 
ing out of the enemy. When he had been fourteen 
months thus employed, he received a vote of thanks 
from the City of London, for his skill and persever- 
ance in blockading that port, so as to prevent the 
French from putting to sea. Nelson had not forgot- 
ten the wrong which the City had done to the Baltic 
fleet by their omission, and did not lose the oppor- 
tunity which this vote afforded of recurring to that 
point. " I do assure your lordship," said he, in his 
answer to the Lord Mayor, " that there is not that 
man breathing who sets a higher value upon the 
thanks of his fellow-citizens of London than myself ; 
but I should feel as much ashamed to receive them 






LIFE OF NELSON. 287 

for a particular service, marked in the resolution, if I 
felt that I did not come within that line of service, as 
I should feel hurt at having a great victory passed 
over without notice. I beg to inform your lordship 
that the port of Toulon has never been blockaded by 
me — quite the reverse. Every opportunity has been 
offered the enemy to put to sea : for it is there that 
we hope to realise the hopes and expectations of our 
country." Nelson then remarked, that the junior 
flag officers of his fleet had been omitted in this vote 
of thanks, and his surprise at the omission was ex- 
pressed with more asperity, perhaps, than an offence 
so entirely and manifestly unintentional deserved ; 
but it arose from that generous regard for the feelings 
as well as interests of all who were under his com- 
mand, which made him as much beloved in the fleets 
of Britain as he was dreaded in those of the enemy. 

Never was any commander more beloved. He 
governed men by their reason and their affections : 
they knew that he was incapable of caprice or tyr- 
anny ; and they obeyed him with alacrity and joy, 
because he possessed their confidence as well as 
their love. " Our Nel," they used to say, " is as 
brave as a lion, and as gentle as a lamb." Severe dis- 
cipline he detested, though he had been bred in a 
severe school : he never inflicted corporal punish- 
ment, if it were possible to avoid it ; and when com- 
pelled to enforce it, he, who was familiar with wounds 
and death, suffered like a woman. In his whole life 
Nelson was never known to act unkindly towards an 
officer. If he was asked to prosecute one for ill 



288 LIFE OF NELSON. 

behaviour, he used to answer : " That there was no 
occasion for him to ruin a poor devil, who was suffi- 
ciently his own enemy to ruin himself." But in Nel- 
son there was more than the easiness and humanity 
of a happy nature : he did not merely abstain from 
injury ; his was an active and watchful benevolence, 
ever desirous not only to render justice, but to do 
good. During the peace he had spoken in Parliament 
upon the abuses respecting prize money; and had 
submitted plans to Government for more easily man- 
ning the navy, and preventing desertion from it, by 
bettering the condition of the seamen. He proposed 
that their certificates should be registered, and that 
every man who had served, with a good character, 
five years in war, should receive a bounty of two 
guineas annually after that time, and of four guineas 
after eight years. "This," he said, " might, at first 
sight, appear an enormous sum for the State to pay ; 
but the average life of a seaman is, from hard serv- 
ice, finished at forty-five : he cannot, therefore, en- 
joy the annuity many years ; and the interest of the 
money saved by their not deserting would go far to 
pay the whole expense." 

To his midshipmen he ever showed the most win- 
ning kindness, encouraging the diffident, tempering 
the hasty, counselling and befriending both. " Rec- 
ollect," he used to say, " that you must be a seaman 
to be an officer ; and also, that you cannot be a good 
officer without being a gentleman." — A lieutenant 
wrote to him, to say that he was dissatisfied with his 
captain. Nelson's answer was in that spirit of per- 






LIFE OF NELSON. 289 

feet wisdom and perfect goodness which regulated 
his whole conduct towards those who were under his 
command. " I have just received your letter ; and I 
am truly sorry that any difference should arise be- 
tween your captain, who has the reputation of being 
one of the bright officers of the service, and yourself, 
a very young man, and a very young officer, who must 
naturally have much to learn : therefore the chance 
is, that you are perfectly wrong in the disagreement. 
However, as your present situation must be very dis- 
agreeable, I will certainly take an early opportunity 
of removing you, provided your conduct to your 
present captain be such that another may not refuse 
to receive you." The gentleness and benignity of 
his disposition never made him forget what was due 
to discipline. Being on one occasion applied to, to 
save a young officer from a court-martial, which he 
had provoked by his misconduct, his reply was : 
" That he would do everything in his power to oblige 
so gallant and good an officer as Sir John Warren," in 
whose name the intercession had been made : " But 
what," he added, " would he do if he were here? — 
Exactly what I have done, and am still willing to do. 
The young man must write such a letter of contrition 
as, would be an acknowledgment of his great fault; 
and with a sincere promise, if his captain will inter- 
cede to prevent the impending court-martial, never to 
so misbehave again. On his captain's enclosing me 
such a letter, with a request to cancel the order for 
the trial, I might be induced to do it : but the letters and 
reprimand will be given in the public order-book of 
19 



290 LIFE OF NELSON. 

the fleet, and read to all the officers. The young 
man has pushed himself forward to notice, and he 
must take the consequence. It was upon the quar- 
ter-deck, in the face of the ship's company, that he 
treated his captain with contempt ; and I am in duty 
bound to support the authority and consequence of 
every officer under my command. A poor ignorant 
seamen is for ever punished for contempt to his 
superiors." 

A dispute occurred in the fleet, while it was off 
Toulon, which called forth Nelson's zeal for the rights 
and interests of the navy. Some young artillery 
officers serving on board the bomb vessels, refused 
to let their men perform any other duty but what 
related to the mortars. They wished to have it 
established that their corps was not subject to the 
captain's authority. The same pretensions were 
made in the Channel fleet about the same time ; and 
the artillery rested their claims to separate and inde- 
pendent authority on board, upon a clause in the 
Act, which they interpreted in their favour. Nelson 
took up the subject with all the earnestness which 
its importance deserved. " There is no real happi- 
ness in this world," said he, writing to Earl St. Vin- 
cent, as First Lord. " With all content, and smiles 
around me, up start these artillery boys (I understand 
they are not beyond that age), and set us at defiance ; 
speaking in the most disrespectful manner of the 
navy and its commanders. I know you, my dear 
lord, so well, that with your quickness the matter 
would have been settled, and perhaps some of them 



LIFE OF NELSON. 291 

been broke. I am, perhaps, more patient, but I do 
assure you, not less resolved, if my plan of concilia- 
tion is not attended to. You and I are on the eve of 
quitting the theatre of our exploits ; but we hold it 
to our successors never, whilst we have a tongue to 
speak or a hand to write, to allow the navy to be, in 
the smallest degree, injured in its discipline by our 
conduct." To Trowbridge he wrote in the same 
spirit. " It is the old history, trying to do away the 
Act of Parliament : but I trust they will never suc- 
ceed ; for when they do, farewell to our naval superi- 
ority. We should be prettily commanded ! Let 
them once gain the step of being independent of the 
navy on board a ship, and they will soon have the 
other, and command us. But, thank God ! my dear 
Trowbridge, the king himself cannot do away the 
Act of Parliament. Although my career is nearly 
run, yet it would embitter my future days and expiring 
moments to hear of our navy being sacrificed to the 
army." As the surest way of preventing such dis- 
putes, he suggested that the navy should have its 
own corps of artillery ; and a corps of marine artillery 
was accordingly established. 

Instead of lessening the power of the commander, 
Nelson would have wished to see it increased : it was 
absolutely necessary, he thought, that merit should 
be rewarded at the moment, and that the officers of 
the fleet should look up to the commander-in-chief 
for their reward. He himself was never more happy 
than when he could promote those who were deserv- 
ing of promotion. Many were the services which he 



292 LIFE OF NELSON. 

thus rendered unsolicited, and frequently the officer, in 
whose behalf he had interested himself with the Ad- 
miralty, did not know to whose friendly interference 
he was indebted for his good fortune. He used to 
say, " I wish it to appear as a God-send." The love 
which he bore the navy made him promote the inter- 
ests, and honour the memory, of all who had added 
to its glories. " The near relations of brother- 
officers," he said, " he considered as legacies to the 
service." Upon mention being made to him of a son 
of Rodney by the Duke of Clarence, his reply was : 
" I agree with your Royal Highness most entirely 
that the son of a Rodney ought to be the protege of 
every person in the kingdom, and particularly of the 
sea officers. Had I known that there had been this 
claimant, some of my own lieutenants must have 
given way to such a name, and he should have been 
placed in the ' Victory ' : she is full, and I have 
twenty on my list ; but, whatever numbers I have the 
name of Rodney must cut many of them out." Such 
was the proper sense which Nelson felt of what was 
due to splendid services and illustrious names. His 
feelings toward the brave men who had served with 
him are shown by a note in his diary, which was prob- 
ably not intended for any other eye than his own. — 
" Nov. 7. I had the comfort of making an old ' Aga- 
memnon,' George Jones, a gunner, into the * Chame- 
leon ' brig." 

When Nelson took the command, it was expected 
that the Mediterranean would be an active scene. 
Nelson well understood the character of the perfid- 



LIFE OF NELSON. 293 

ious Corsican, who was now sole tyrant of France ; 
and knowing that he was as ready to attack his 
friends as his enemies, knew, therefore, that nothing 
could be more uncertain than the direction of the 
fleet from Toulon, whenever it should put to sea :— 
" It had as many destinations," he said, u as there 
were countries." The momentous revolutions of the 
last ten years had given him ample matter for reflec- 
tion, as well as opportunities for observation: the 
film was cleared from his eyes ; and now, when the 
French no longer went abroad with the cry of liberty 
and equality, he saw that the oppression and misrule 
of the powers which had been opposed to them, had 
been the main causes of their success, and that those 
causes would still prepare the way before them. 
Even in Sicily, where, if it had been possible longer 
to blind himself, Nelson would willingly have seen 
no evil ; he perceived that the people wished for a 
change, and acknowledged that they had reason to 
wish for it. In Sardinia the same burden of mis- 
governrnent was felt ; and the people, like the Sicil- 
ians, were impoverished by a Government so utterly 
incompetent to perform its first and most essential 
duties, that it did not protect its own coasts from the 
Barbary pirates. He would fain have had us pur- 
chase this island (the finest in the Mediterranean) 
from its sovereign, who did not receive ^5000 a year 
from it, after its wretched establishment was paid. 
There was reason to think that France was preparing 
to possess herself of this important point, which af- 
forded our fleet facilities for watching Toulon, not to 



294 LIFE OF NELSON. 

be obtained elsewhere. An expedition was prepar- 
ing at Corsica for the purpose ; and all the Sardes, 
who had taken part with revolutionary France, were 
ordered to assemble there. It was certain that, if 
the attack were made, it would succeed. Nelson 
thought that the only means to prevent Sardinia from 
becoming French was to make it English, and that 
half a million would give the king a rich price, and 
England a cheap purchase. A better, and therefore 
a wiser policy, would have been to exert our influence 
in removing the abuses of the Government ; for 
foreign dominion is always, in some degree, an evil, 
and allegiance neither can or ought to be made a 
thing of bargain and sale. Sardinia, like Sicily and 
Corsica, is large enough to form a separate state. 
Let us hope that these islands may, ere long, be 
made free and independent. Freedom and independ- 
ence will bring with them industry and prosperity ; 
and wherever these are found, arts and letters will 
flourish, and the improvement of the human race 
proceed. 

The proposed attack was postponed. Views of 
wider ambition were opening upon Buonaparte, who 
now almost undisguisedly aspired to make himself 
master of the continent of Europe ; and Austria was 
preparing for another struggle, to be conducted as 
weakly, and terminated as miserably, as the former. 
Spain, too, was once more to be involved in war by 
the policy of France, that perfidious Government 
having in view the double object of employing the 
Spanish resources against England, and exhausting 



LIFE OF NELSON. 295 

them, in order to render Spain herself finally its prey. 
Nelson, who knew that England and the Peninsula 
ought to be in alliance, for the common interest of 
both, frequently expressed his hopes that Spain 
might resume her natural rank among the nations. 
" We ought," he said, " by mutual consent, to be the 
very best friends, and both to be ever hostile to 
France." But he saw that Buonaparte was meditat- 
ing the destruction of Spain ; and that, while the 
wretched court of Madrid professed to remain neu- 
tral, the appearances of neutrality were scarcely pre- 
served. An order of the year 1771, excluding British 
ships of war from the Spanish ports, was revived and 
put in force ; while French privateers, from these 
very ports, annoyed the British trade, carried their 
prizes in, and sold them even at Barcelona. Nelson 
complained of this to the captain-general of Cata- 
lonia, informing him that he claimed, for every 
British ship or squadron, the right of lying, as long 
as it pleased, in the ports of Spain, while that right 
was allowed to other powers. To the British ambas- 
sador he said : " I am ready to make large allow- 
ances for the miserable situation Spain has placed 
herself in ; but there is a certain line, beyond which I 
cannot submit to be treated with disrespect. We 
have given up French vessels taken within gun-shot 
of the Spanish shore, and yet French vessels are per- 
mitted to attack our ships from the Spanish shore. 
Your Excellency may assure the Spanish Govern- 
ment, that in whatever place the Spaniards allow the 
French to attack us, in that place I shall order the 
French to be attacked." 



296 LIFE OF NELSON. 

During this state of things, to which the weakness 
of Spain, and not her will, consented, the enemy's 
fleet did not venture to put to sea. Nelson watched 
it with unremitting and almost unexampled persever- 
ance. The station off Toulon he called his home. 
" We are in the right fighting trim," said he ; " let 
them come as soon as they please. I never saw a 
fleet, altogether, so well officered and manned : 
would to God the ships were half as good ! The 
finest ones in the service would soon be destroyed by 
such terrible weather. I know well enough, that if 
I were to go into Malta I should save the ships dur- 
ing this bad season : but, if I am to watch the 
French, I must be at sea ; and, if at sea, must have 
bad weather : and if the ships are not fit to stand 
bad weather, they are useless." Then only he was 
satisfied, and at ease, when he had the enemy in view. 
Mr. Elliot, our minister at Naples, seems, at this 
time to have proposed to send a confidential French- 
man to him with information. " I should be very 
happy," he replied, " to receive authentic intelligence 
of the destination of the French squadron, their 
route, and time of sailing. Anything short of this is 
useless ; and I assure your Excellency, that I would 
not, upon any consideration, have a Frenchman in 
the fleet, except as a prisoner. I put no confidence 
in them. You think yours good ; the queen thinks 
the same : I believe they are all alike. Whatever in- 
formation you can get me, I shall be very thankful 
for ; but not a Frenchman comes here. Forgive me, 
but my mother hated the French." 



LIFE OF NELSON. 297 

M. Latouche Treville, who had commanded at 
Boulogne, commanded now at Toulon. " He was 
sent for on purpose," said Nelson, "as he beat me at 
Boulogne, to beat me again : but he seems very loathe 
to try." One day, while the main body of our fleet 
was out of sight of land, Rear-Admiral Campbell, 
reconnoitring with the " Canopus," " Donnegal," and 
" Amazon," stood in close to the port ; and M. La- 
touche, taking advantage of a breeze which sprung 
up, pushed out, with four ships of the line and three 
heavy frigates, and chased him about four leagues. 
The Frenchman, delighted at having found himself 
in so novel a situation, published a boastful account ; 
affirming, that he had given chase to the whole Brit- 
ish fleet, and that Nelson had fled before him ! Nel- 
son thought it due to the Admiralty to send home a 
copy of the " Victory's " log upon this occasion. 
"As for himself," he said, " if his character was not es- 
tablished by that time for not being apt to run away, 
it was not worth his while to put the world right." 
— " If this fleet gets fairly up with M. Latouche," 
said he to one of his correspondents, " his letter, 
with all his ingenuity, must be different from his last. 
We had fancied that we chased him into Toulon ; 
for, blind as I am, I could see his water line, when 
he clued his topsails up, shutting in Sepet. But, 
from the time of his meeting Captain Hawker, in the 
1 Isis,' I never heard of his acting otherwise than as a 
poltroon and a liar. Contempt is the best mode of 
treating such a miscreant." In spite, however, of 
contempt, the impudence of this Frenchman half 



298 LIFE OF NELSON. 

angered him. He said to his brother: "You will 
have seen Latouche's letter ; how he chased me, and 
how I ran. I keep it : and if 1 take him, by God he 
shall eat it." 

Nelson, who used to say, that in sea affairs nothing 
is impossible, and nothing improbable, feared the 
more that this Frenchman might get out and elude 
his vigilance, because he was so especially desirous 
of catching him, and administering to him his own 
lying letter in a sandwich. M. Latouche, however, 
escaped him in another way. He died, according to 
the French papers, in consequence of walking so 
often up to the signal post upon Sepet, to watch the 
British fleet. " I always pronounced that would be 
his death," said Nelson. " If he had but come out 
and fought me, it would, at least, have added ten 
years to my life." The patience with which he had 
watched Toulon, he spoke of, truly, as a perseverance 
at sea which had never been surpassed. From May 
1803 to August 1805, he himself went out of his ship 
but three times : each of those times was upon the 
king's service, and neither time of absence exceeded 
an hour. The weather had been so unusually severe, 
that, he said, the Mediterranean seemed altered. It 
was his rule never to contend with the gales ; but 
either run to the southward to escape their violence, 
or furl all the sails, and make the ships as easy as 
possible. The men, though he said flesh and blood 
could hardly stand it, continued in excellent health, 
which he ascribed, in great measure, to a plentiful 
supply of lemons and onions. For himself, he 



LIFE OF NELSON. 299 

thought he could only last till the battle was over. 
One battle more it was his hope that he might fight, 
" However," said he, "whatever happens, I have run 
a glorious race." He was afraid of blindness ; and 
this was the only evil which he could not contemplate 
without unhappiness. More alarming symptoms he 
regarded with less apprehension ; describing his own 
M shattered carcass " as in the worst plight of any in 
the fleet : and he says, " I have felt the blood gush- 
ing up the left side of my head, and the moment it 
covers the brain, I am fast asleep." The fleet was 
in worse trim than the men : but when he compared 
it with the enemy's, it was with a right English feel- 
ing. " The French fleet yesterday," said he, in one 
of his letters, " was to appearance in high feather, 
and as fine as paint could make them : — but when 
they may sail, or where they may go I am very sorry 
to say, is a secret I am not acquainted with. Our 
weather-beaten ships, I have no fear, w r ill make their 
sides like a plum-pudding." 

Hostilities at length commenced between Great 
Britain and Spain. That country, whose miserable 
Government made her subservient to France, was 
once more destined to lavish her resources and her 
blood in furtherance of the designs of a perfidious 
ally. The immediate occasion of the war was the 
seizure of four treasure ships by the English. The 
act was perfectly justifiable, for those treasures were 
intended to furnish means for France ; but the cir- 
cumstances which attended it were as unhappy as 
they were unforeseen. Four frigates had been des- 



300 LIFE OF NELSON. 

patched to intercept them. They met with an equal 
force. Resistance, therefore, became a point of 
honour on the part of the Spaniards, and one of 
their ships soon blew up, with all on board. Had a 
stronger squadron been sent, this deplorable catas- 
trophe might have been spared : a catastrophe which 
excited not more indignation in Spain, than it did 
grief in those who were its unwilling instruments, in 
the English Government, and in the English people. 
On the 5th of October this unhappy affair occurred, 
and Nelson was not apprised of it till the 12th of the 
ensuing month. He had, indeed, sufficient mortifica- 
tion at the breaking out of this Spanish war ; an 
event which, it might reasonably have been supposed, 
would amply enrich the officers of the Mediterranean, 
and repay them for the severe and unremitting duty 
on which they had been so long employed. But of 
this harvest they were deprived ; for Sir John Orde 
was sent with a small squadron, and a separate com- 
mand to Cadiz. Nelson's feelings were never wound- 
ed so deeply as now. " I had thought," said he, 
writing in the first flow and freshness of indignation ; 
"I fancied, — but, nay; it must have been a dream, 
an idle dream ; — yet, I confess it, I did fancy that I 
had done my country service ; and thus they use me ! 
And under what circumstances, and with what 
pointed aggravation ! Yet, if 1 know my own thoughts, 
it is not for myself, or on my own account chiefly, 
that I feel the sting and the disappointment. No ! 
it is for my brave officers ; for my noble-minded 
friends and comrades. Such a gallant set of fellows ! 



LIFE OF NELSON. 301 

Such a band of brothers ! My heart swells at the 
thought of them." 

War between Spain and England was now de- 
clared ; and on the 18th of January the Toulon fleet, 
having the Spaniards to co-operate with them, put to 
sea. Nelson was at anchor off the coast of Sardinia, 
where the Madelena islands from one of the finest 
harbours in the world, when, at three in the after- 
noon of the 19th, the "Active" and "Seahorse" 
frigates brought this long-hoped-for intelligence. 
They had been close to the enemy at ten on the pre- 
ceding night, but lost sight of them in about four 
hours. The fleet immediately unmoored and weighed, 
and at six in the evening ran through the strait be- 
tween Biche and Sardinia : a passage so narrow, that 
the ships could only pass one at a time, each follow- 
ing the stern lights of its leader. From the position 
of the enemy, when they were last seen, it was in- 
ferred that they must be bound round the southern 
end of Sardinia. Signal was made the next morning 
to prepare for battle. Bad weather came on, baffling 
the one fleet in its object and the other in its pursuit. 
Nelson beat about the Sicilian seas for ten days, 
without obtaining any other information of the enemy 
than that one of their ships had put into Ajaccio 
dismasted ; and having seen that Sardinia, Naples, 
and Sicily were safe, believing Egypt to be their des- 
tination, for Egypt he ran. The disappointment and 
distress which he had experienced in his former pur- 
suit of the French through the same seas were now 
renewed : but Nelson, while he endured these anxious 



3 o2 LIFE OF NELSON. 

and unhappy feelings, was still consoled by the same 
confidence as on the former occasion, that, though his 
judgment might be erroneous, under all circumstances 
he was right in having formed it. "I have consulted 
no man," said he to the Admiralty; " therefore the 
whole blame of ignorance in forming my judgment 
must rest with me. I would allow no man to take 
from me an atom of my glory had I fallen in with the 
French fleet ; nor do I desire any man to partake any 
of the responsibility. All is mine, right or wrong." 
Then stating the grounds upon which he had pro- 
ceeded, he added : " At this moment of sorrow I still 
feel that I have acted right." In the same spirit he 
said to Sir Alexander Ball : " When I call to remem- 
brance all the circumstances, I approve, if nobody 
else does, of my own conduct." 

Baffled thus, he bore up for Malta, and met intelli- 
gence from Naples, that the French, having been 
dispersed in a gale, had put back to Toulon. From 
the same quarter he learnt that a great number of 
saddles and muskets had been embarked ; and this 
confirmed him in his opinion that Egypt was their 
destination. That they should have put back in 
consequence of storms, which he had weathered, gave 
him a consoling sense of British superiority. " These 
gentlemen," said he, " are not accustomed to a Gulf 
of Lyons' gale : we have buffeted them for one-and- 
twenty months, and not carried away a spar." He, 
however, who had so often braved these gales, was 
now, though not mastered by them, vexatiously 
thwarted and impeded ; and, on February 27th, he 



LIFE OF NELSON. 303 

was compelled to anchor in Pulla Bay, in the Gulf of 
Cagliari. From the 21st of January the fleet had 
remained ready for battle, without a bulkhead up, 
night or day. He anchored here, that he might not 
be driven to leeward. As soon as the weather 
moderated he put to sea again ; and, after again beat- 
ing about against contrary winds, another gale drove 
him to anchor in the Gulf of Palma, on the 8th of 
March. This he made his rendezvous; he knew 
that the French troops still remained embarked, and 
wishing to lead them into a belief that he was 
stationed upon the Spanish coast, he made his ap- 
pearance off Barcelona with that intent. About the 
end of the month he began to fear that the plan of 
the expedition was abandoned ; and sailing once more 
towards his old station off Toulon, on the 4th of April 
he met the " Phoebe," with news that Villeneuve had 
put to sea on the last of March with eleven ships of 
the line, seven frigates, and two brigs. When last 
seen, they were steering toward the coast of Africa. 
Nelson first covered the channel between Sardinia 
and Barbary, so as to satisfy himself that Villeneuve 
was not taking the same route for Egypt which 
Gantheaume had taken before him, when he attempted 
to carry reinforcements there. Certain of this, he 
bore up on the 7th for Palermo, lest the French 
should have passed to the north of Corsica, and he 
despatched cruisers in all directions. On the nth 
he felt assured that they were not gone down the 
Mediterranean ; and sending off frigates to Gibraltar, 
to Lisbon, and to Admiral Cornwallis, who com- 



304 LIFE OF NELSON. 

manded the squadron off Brest, he endeavoured to 
get to the westward, beating against westerly winds. 
After five days, a neutral gave intelligence that the 
French had been seen off Cape de Gatte on the 7th. 
It was soon afterwards ascertained that they had 
passed the Straits of Gibraltar on the day following ; 
and Nelson, knowing that they might already be half 
way to Ireland or to Jamaica, exclaimed that he was 
miserable. One gleam of comfort only came across 
him in the reflection, that his vigilance had rendered 
it impossible for them to undertake any expedition in 
the Mediterranean. 

Eight days after this certain intelligence had been 
obtained, he describes his state of mind thus forcibly, 
in writing to the governor of Malta : " My good for- 
tune, my dear Ball, seems flown away. I cannot get 
a fair wind, or even a side wind. Dead foul ! — Dead 
foul ! — But my mind is fully made up what to do 
when I leave the Straits, supposing there is no cer- 
tain account of the enemy's destination. I believe 
this ill luck will go near to kill me ; but, as these are 
times for exertion, I must not be cast down, what- 
ever I may feel." In spite of every exertion which 
could be made by all the zeal and all the skill of 
British seamen, he did not get in sight of Gibraltar 
till the 30th of April ; and the wind was then so ad- 
verse, that it was impossible to pass the Gut. He 
anchored in Mazari Bay, on the Barbary shore, ob- 
tained supplies from Tetuan ; and when, on the 5th, 
a breeze from the eastward sprang up at last, sailed 
once more, hoping to hear of the enemy from Sir 



LIFE OF NELSON. 305 

John Orde, who commanded off Cadiz, or from Lis- 
bon. " If nothing is heard of them," said he to the 
Admiralty, "I shall probably think the rumours 
which have been spread are true, that their object is 
the West Indies ; and, in that case, I think it my 
duty to follow them, — or to the Antipodes, should I 
believe that to be their destination." At the time 
when this resolution was taken, the physician of the 
fleet had ordered him to return to England before 
the hot months. 

Nelson had formed his judgment of their destina- 
tion, and made up his mind accordingly, when 
Donald Campbell, at that time an Admiral in the 
Portuguese service, the same person who had given 
important tidings to Earl St. Vincent of the move- 
ments of that fleet from which he won his title, a 
second time gave timely and momentous intelligence 
to the flag of his country. He went on board the 
" Victory," and communicated to Nelson his certain 
knowledge that the combined Spanish and French 
fleets were bound for the West Indies. Hitherto all 
things had favoured the enemy. While the British 
commander was beating up against strong southerly 
and westerly gales, they had wind to their wish from 
the N. E. : and had done in nine days what he was a 
whole month in accomplishing. Villeneuve finding 
the Spaniards at Carthagena were not in a state of 
equipment to join him, dared not wait, but hastened 
on to Cadiz. Sir John Orde necessarily retired at his 
approach. Admiral Gravina, with six Spanish ships 
of the line and two French, came out to him, and 
20 



306 LIFE OF NELSON. 

they sailed without a moment's loss of time. They 
had about three thousand French troops on board, 
and fifteen hundred Spanish : — six hundred were 
under orders, expecting them at Martinique, and one 
thousand at Guadaloupe. General Lauriston com- 
manded the troops. The combined fleet now con- 
sisted of eighteen sail of the line, six forty-four gun 
frigates, one of twenty-six guns, three corvettes, and 
a brig. They were joined afterwards by two French 
line of battle ships, and one forty-four. Nelson pur- 
sued them with ten sail of the line and three frigates. 
" Take you a Frenchman apiece," said he to his cap- 
tains, "and leave me the Spaniards: — when I haul 
down my colours I expect you to do the same, — and 
not till then." 

The enemy had five and thirty days' start ; but he 
calculated that he should gain eight or ten days upon 
them by his exertions. May 15th he made Madeira, 
and on June 4th reached Barbadoes, whither he had 
sent despatches before him ; and where he found 
Admiral Cochrane, with two ships, part of our squad- 
ron in those seas being at Jamaica. He found here 
also accounts that the combined fleets had been seen 
from St. Lucia on the 28th, standing to the south- 
ward, and that Tobago and Trinidad were their ob- 
jects. This Nelson doubted; but he was alone in 
his opinion, and yielded it with these foreboding 
words — " If your intelligence proves false, you lose 
me the French fleet." Sir William Myers offered to 
embark here with two thousand troops : — they were 
taken on board, and the next morning he sailed for 



LIFE OF NELSON. 307 

Tobago. Here accident confirmed the false intelli- 
gence which had, whether from intention or error, 
misled him. A merchant at Tobago, in the general 
alarm, not knowing whether this fleet was friend or 
foe, sent out a schooner to reconnoitre, and acquaint 
him by signal. The signal which he had chosen 
happened to be the very one which had been ap- 
pointed by Colonel Shipley of the engineers, to sig- 
nify that the enemy were at Trinidad ; and as this 
was at the close of day, there was no opportunity of 
discovering the mistake. An American brig was 
met with about the same time ; the master of which, 
with that propensity to deceive the English and assist 
the French in any manner, which has been but too 
common among his countrymen, affirmed, that he 
had been boarded off Granada a few days before by 
the French, who were standing towards the Bocas 
of Trinidad. This fresh intelligence removed all 
doubts. The ships were cleared for action before 
daylight, and Nelson entered the Bay of Paria on the 
7th, hoping and expecting to make the mouths of the 
Orinoco as famous in the annals of the British navy 
as those of the Nile. Not an enemy was there ; and 
it was discovered that accident and artifice had com- 
bined to lead him so far to leeward, that there could 
have been little hope of fetching to windward of 
Granada for any other fleet. Nelson, however, with 
skill and exertions never exceeded, and almost un- 
exampled, bore for that island. 

Advices met him on the way, that the combined 
fleets, having captured the Diamond Rock, were 



308 LIFE OF NELSON. 

then at Martinique, on the 4th, and were expected to 
sail that night for the attack of Granada. On the 
9th Nelson arrived off that island ; and there learnt, 
that they had passed to leeward of Antigua the pre- 
ceding day, and taken a homeward bound convoy. 
Had it not been for false information, upon which 
Nelson had acted reluctantly, and in opposition to 
his own judgment, he would have been off Port 
Royal just as they were leaving it, and the battle 
would have been fought on the spot where Rodney 
defeated De Grasse. This he remembered in his 
vexation : but he had saved the colonies, and above 
two hundred ships laden for Europe, which would 
else have fallen into the enemy's hands ; and he had 
the satisfaction of knowing that the mere terror of 
his name had effected this, and had put to flight the 
allied enemies, whose force nearly doubled that be- 
fore which they fled. That they were flying back to 
Europe he believed, and for Europe he steered in 
pursuit on the 13th, having disembarked the troops 
at Antigua, and taking with him the "Spartiate," 
74: — the only addition to the squadron with which 
he was pursuing so superior a force. Five days 
afterwards the " Amazon " brought intelligence, that 
she had spoke a schooner who had seen them, on the 
evening of the 15th, steering to the N., and, by com- 
putation, eighty-seven leagues off. .Nelson's diary 
at this time denotes his great anxiety, and his per- 
petual and all-observing vigilance. — "June 21. Mid- 
night, nearly calm, saw three planks, which I think 
came from the French fleet. Very miserable, which 



LIFE OF NELSON. 3°9 

is very foolish." On the 17th of July he came in 
sight of Cape St. Vincent, and steered for Gibraltar. 
—"June 18th," his diary says, "Cape Spartel in 
sight, but no French fleet, nor any information about 
them. How sorrowful this makes me ! but I cannot 
help myself." The next day he anchored at Gib- 
raltar ; and on the 20th, says he, " 1 went on shore 
for the first time since June 16th, 1803; and from 
having my foot out of the 4 Victory,' two years, want- 
ing ten days." 

Here he communicated with his old friend Colling- 
wood ; who, having been detached with a squadron, 
when the disappearance of the combined fleets, and 
of Nelson in their pursuit, was known in England, 
had taken his station off Cadiz. He thought that 
Ireland was the enemy's ultimate object,— that they 
would now liberate the Ferrol squadron, which was 
blocked up by Sir Robert Calder— call for the Roch- 
fort ships, and then appear off Ushant with three or 
four and thirty sail ; there to be joined by the Brest 
fleet. With this great force he supposed they would 
make for Ireland,— the real mark and bent of all their 
operations : and their flight to the West Indies, he 
thought, had been merely undertaken to take off Nel- 
son's force, which was the great impediment to their 
undertaking. 

Collingwood was gifted with great political pene- 
tration. As yet, however, all was conjecture con- 
cerning the enemy ; and Nelson having victualled 
and watered at Teutan, stood for Ceuta on the 24th 
still without information of their course. Next day 



3io LIFE OF NELSON. 

intelligence arrived that the " Curieux " brig had 
seen them on the 19th, standing to the northward. 
He proceeded off Cape St. Vincent, rather cruising for 
intelligence than knowing whither to betake himself • 
and here a case occurred, that more than any other 
event in real history resembles those whimsical proofs 
of sagacity which Voltaire, in his Zadig, has borrowed 
from the Orientals. One of our frigates spoke an Amer- 
ican, who, a little to the westward of the Azores, had 
fallen in with an armed vessel, appearing to be a dis- 
masted privateer, deserted by her crew, which had 
been run on board by another ship, and had been 
set fire to ; but the fire had gone out. A log-book, 
and a few seamens' jackets, were found in the cabin ; 
and these were brought to Nelson. The log-book 
closed with these words : " Two large vessels in the 
W. N. W : " and this led him to conclude that the 
vessel had been an English privateer, cruising off the 
Western Islands. But there was in this book a scrap 
of dirty paper, filled with figures. Nelson, imme- 
diately upon seeing it, observed, that the figures were 
written by a Frenchman ; and, after studying this for 
a while, said, " I can explain the whole. The jackets 
are of French manufacture, and prove that the 
privateer was in possession of the enemy. She had 
been chased and taken by the two ships that were 
seen in the W. N. W. The prize master, going on 
board in a hurry, forgot to take with him his reckon- 
ing : there is none in the log-book ; and the dirty 
paper contains her work for the number of days 
since the privateer last left Corvo : with an unac- 



LIFE OF NELSON. 311 

counted-for run, which I take to have been the chase, 
in his endeavour to find out her situation by back 
reckonings. By some mismanagement, I conclude, 
she was run on board of by one of the enemy's ships, 
and dismasted. Not liking delay (for I am satisfied 
that those two ships were the advanced ones of the 
French squadron), and fancying we were close at 
their heels, they set fire to the vessel, and abandoned 
her in a hurry. If this explanation be correct, I infer 
from it that they are gone more to the northward ; 
and more to the northward I will look for them." 
This course accordingly he held, but still without 
success. Still persevering, and still disappointed, he 
returned near enough to Cadiz to ascertain that they 
were not there ; traversed the Bay of Biscay ; and 
then, as a last hope, stood over for the north-west 
coast of Ireland, against adverse winds, till, on the 
evening of the 12th of August, he learnt that they 
had not been heard of there. Frustrated thus in all 
his hopes, after a pursuit, to which, for its extent, 
rapidity and perseverance, no parallel can be pro- 
duced, he judged it best to reinforce the Channel 
fleet with his squadron, lest the enemy, as Colling- 
wood apprehended, should bear down upon Brest 
with their whole collected force. On the 15th he 
joined Admiral Cornwallis off Ushant. No news 
had yet been obtained of the enemy ; and on the 
same evening he received orders to proceed, with 
the " Victory " and " Superb," to Portsmouth. 



312 LIFE OF NELSON. 



CHAPTER IX. 

At Portsmouth, Nelson, at length, found news of 
the combined fleet. Sir Robert Calder, who had 
been sent out to intercept their return, had fallen in 
with them on the 22nd of July, sixty leagues west of 
Cape Finisterre. Their force consisted of twenty 
sail of the line, three fifty gun ships, five frigates, and 
two brigs : his, of fifteen line of battle ships, two 
frigates, a cutter, and a lugger. After an action of 
four hours he had captured an 84 and a 74, and then 
thought it necessary to bring to the squadron, for the 
purpose of securing their prizes. The hostile fleets 
remained in sight of each other till the 26th, when 
the enemy bore away. The capture of two ships 
from so superior a force, would have been considered 
as no inconsiderable victory a few years earlier ; but 
Nelson had introduced a new era in our naval his- 
tory ; and the nation felt, respecting this action, as 
he had felt on a somewhat similar occasion. They 
regretted that Nelson, with his eleven ships, had not 
been in Sir Robert Calder's place ; and their disap- 
pointment was generally and loudly expressed. 

Frustrated as his own hopes had been, Nelson had 
yet the high satisfaction of knowing that his judg- 
ment had never been more conspicuously approved, 
and that he had rendered essential service to his 



LIFE OF NELSON. 313 

country by driving the enemy from those islands, 
where they expected there could be no force capable 
of opposing them. The West India merchants in 
London, as men whose interests were more immedi- 
ately benefited, appointed a deputation to express 
their thanks for his great and judicious exertions. It 
was now his intention to rest awhile from his 
labours, and recruit himself, after all his fatigues and 
cares, in the society of those whom he loved. All 
his stores were brought up from the " Victory ; " and 
he found in his house at Merton the enjoyment 
which he had anticipated. Many days had not 
elapsed before Captain Blackwood, on his way to 
London with despatches, called on him at five in the 
morning. Nelson, who was already dressed, ex- 
claimed, the moment he saw him : " I am sure you 
bring me news of the French and Spanish fleets ! I 
think I shall yet have to beat them ! " They had 
refitted at Vigo, after the indecisive action with Sir 
Robert Calder ; then proceeded to Ferrol, brought 
out the squadron from thence, and with it entered 
Cadiz in safety. " Depend on it, Blackwood," he re- 
peatedly said, " I shall yet give M. Villeneuve a 
drubbing." But, when Blackwood had left him, he 
wanted resolution to declare his wishes to Lady 
Hamilton and his sisters, and endeavoured to drive 
away the thought. "He had done enough," he 
said ; " let the man trudge it who has lost his 
budget ! " His countenance belied his lips ; and as 
he was pacing one of the walks in the garden, which 
he used to call the quarter-deck, Lady Hamilton 



3H LIFE OF NELSON. 

came up to him, and told him she saw he was un- 
easy. He smiled, and said : " No, he was as happy 
as possible, he was surrounded by his family, his 
health was better since he had been on shore, and 
he would not give sixpence to call the king his 
uncle." She replied, that she did not believe him, — 
that she knew he was longing to get at the combined 
fleets, — that he considered them as his own property, 
— that he would be miserable if any man but him- 
self did the business ; and that he ought to have 
them, as the price and reward of his two years' long 
watching, and his hard chase. " Nelson," said she, 
" however we may lament your absence, offer your 
services ; — they will be accepted, and you will gain a 
quiet heart by it : you will have a glorious victory, 
and then you may return here and be happy." He 
looked at her with tears in his eyes — "Brave Emma! 
— Good Emma ! — If there were more Emmas, there 
would be more Nelsons." 

His services were as willingly accepted as they 
were offered ; and Lord Barham, giving him the list 
of the navy, desired him to choose his own officers. 
"Choose yourself, my lord," was his reply: "the 
same spirit actuates the whole profession : you can- 
not choose wrong." Lord Barham then desired him 
to say what ships, and how many, he would wish, in 
addition to the fleet w 7 hich he was going to command, 
and said they should follow him as soon as each was 
ready. No appointment was ever more in unison 
with the feelings and judgment of the whole nation. 
They, like Lady Hamilton, thought that the destruc- 



LIFE OF NELSON. 315 

tion of the combined fleets ought properly to be 
Nelson's work : that he who had been 

" Half around the sea-girt ball, 
The hunter of the recreant Gaul," * 

ought to reap the spoils of the chase, which he had 
watched so long, and so perseveringly pursued. 

Unremitting exertions were made to equip the 
ships which he had chosen, and especially to refit the 
"Victory," which was once more to bear his flag. 
Before he left London he called at his upholsterer's, 
where the coffin, which Captain Hallowell had given 
him, was deposited ; and desired that its history 
might be engraven upon the lid, saying, it was highly 
probable that he might want it on his return. He 
seemed, indeed, to have been impressed with an ex- 
pectation that he should fall in the battle. In a let- 
ter to his brother, written immediately after his 
return, he had said : " We must not talk of Sir 
Robert Calder's battle — I might not have done so 
much with my small force. If I had fallen in with 
them, you might probably have been a lord before I 
wished ; for I know they meant to make a dead set 
at the 'Victory.'" Nelson had once regarded the 
prospect of death with gloomy satisfaction : it was 
when he anticipated the upbraidings of his wife, and 
the displeasure of his venerable father. The state of 
his feelings now was expressed, in his private journal 
in these words: — "Friday night (Sept. 13), at half- 
past ten, I drove from dear, dear Merton, where I 

♦Songs of Trafalgar. 



316 LIFE OF NELSON. 

left all which I hold dear in this world, to go to 
serve my king and country. May the great God, 
whom I adore, enable me to fulfil the expectations 
of my country ! and, if it is His good pleasure that I 
should return, my thanks will never cease being of- 
fered up to the throne of His mercy. If it is His 
good providence to cut short my days upon earth, I 
bow with the greatest submission ; relying that He 
will protect those so dear to me, whom I may leave 
behind ! His will be done! Amen ! Amen ! Amen!" 
Early on the following morning he reached Ports- 
mouth; and, having despatched his business on 
shore, endeavoured to elude the populace by taking 
a bye-way to the beach ; but a crowd collected in his 
train, pressing forward to obtain a sight of his face — 
many were in tears, and many knelt down before him, 
and blessed him as he passed. England has had many 
heroes, but never one who so entirely possessed the 
love of his fellow-countrymen as Nelson. All men 
knew that his heart was as humane as it was fear- 
less ; that there was not in his nature the slightest 
alloy of selfishness or cupidity ; but that, with perfect 
and entire devotion, he served his country with all 
his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his 
strength ; and, therefore, they loved him as truly 
and as fervently as he loved England. They pressed 
upon the parapet to gaze after him when his barge 
pushed off, and he was returning their cheers by 
waving his hat. The sentinels, who endeavoured to 
prevent them from trespassing upon this ground, 
were wedged among the crowd ; and an officer, who, 



LIFE OF NELSON. 317 

not very prudently upon such an occasion, ordered 
them to drive the people down with their bayonets, 
was compelled speedily to retreat, for the people 
would not be debarred from gazing, till the last 
moment, upon the hero, the darling hero of England. 
He arrived off Cadiz on the 29th of September, — 
his birthday. Fearing that, if the enemy knew his 
force, they might be deterred from venturing to sea, 
he kept out of sight of land, desired Collingwood to 
fire no salute and hoist no colours ; and wrote to 
Gibraltar, to request that the force of the fleet might 
not be inserted there in the " Gazette." His recep- 
tion in the Mediterranean fleet was as gratifying as 
the farewell of his countrymen at Portsmouth : the 
officers, who came on board to welcome him, forgot 
his rank as commander, in their joy at seeing him 
again. On the day of his arrival, Villeneuve received 
orders to put to sea the first opportunity. Villeneuve, 
however, hesitated when he heard that Nelson had 
resumed the command. He called a council of war ; 
and their determination was, that it would not be ex- 
pedient to leave Cadiz, unless they had reason to be- 
lieve themselves stronger by one-third than the Brit- 
ish force. In the public measures of this country 
secrecy is seldom practicable, and seldom attempted : 
here, however, by the precautions of Nelson and the 
wise measures of the Admiralty, the enemy were for 
once kept in ignorance : for, as the ships appointed 
to reinforce the Mediterranean fleet were despatched 
singly — each as soon as it was ready — their collected 
number was not stated in the newspapers, and their 



3 i 8 LIFE OF NELSON. 

arrival was not known to the enemy. But the enemy 
knew that Admiral Louis, with six sail, had been de- 
tached for stores and water to Gibraltar. Accident 
also contributed to make the French admiral doubt 
whether Nelson himself had actually taken the com- 
mand. An American, lately arrived from England, 
maintained that it was impossible, for he had seen 
him only a few days before in London, and at that time 
there was no rumour of his going again to sea. 

The station which Nelson had chosen was some 
fifty or sixty miles to the west of Cadiz, near Cape St. 
Mary's. At this distance he hoped to decoy the enemy 
out, while he guarded against the danger of being 
caught with a westerly wind near Cadiz, and driven 
within the Straits. The blocade of the port was rigor- 
ously enforced ; in hopes that the combined fleet might 
be forced to sea by want. The Danish vessels, there- 
fore, which were carrying provisions from the French 
ports in the bay, under the name of Danish property, 
to all the little ports from Ayamonte to Algeziras, from 
whence they were conveyed in coasting boats to 
Cadiz, were seized. Without this proper exertion of 
power, the blockade would have been rendered nuga- 
tory, by the advantage thus taken of the neutral flag. 
: The supplies from France were thus effectually cut 
off. There was now every indication that the enemy 
would speedily venture out : officers and men were in 
the highest spirits at the prospect of giving them a 
decisive blow, such, indeed, as would put an end to 
all further contest upon the seas. Theatrical amuse- 
ments were performed every evening in most of the 



LIFE OF NELSON. 319 

ships, and " God Save the King " was the hymn with 
which the sports concluded. " I verily believe," said 
Nelson (writing on the 6th of October), " that the 
country will soon be put to some expense on my ac- 
count; either a monument, or a new pension and 
honours ; for I have not the smallest doubt but that 
a very few days, almost hours, will put us in battle. 
The success no man can ensure ; but for the fighting 
them, if they can be got at, I pledge myself. The 
sooner the better : I don't like to have these things 
upon my mind." 

At this time he was not without some cause of 
anxiety : he was in want of frigates, — the eyes of the 
fleet, as he always called them : — to the want of 
which, the enemy before were indebted for their es- 
cape, and Buonaparte for his arrival in Egypt. He had 
only twenty-three ships — others were on the way — 
but they might come too late ; and, though Nelson 
never doubted of victory, mere victory was not what 
he looked to, he wanted to annihilate the enemy's 
fleet. The Carthagena squadron might effect a junc- 
tion with this fleet on the one side ; and, on the other, 
it was to be expected that a similar attempt would 
be made by the French from Brest;— in either case, 
a formidable contingency to be apprehended by the 
blockading force. The Rochefort squadron did push 
out, and had nearly caught the " Agamemnon " and 
" l'Aimable," in their way to reinforce the British 
admiral. Yet Nelson at this time weakened his own 
fleet. He had the unpleasant task to perform of 
sending home Sir Robert Calder, whose conduct was 



320 LIFE OF NELSON. 

to be made the subject of a court-martial; in conse- 
quence of the general dissatisfaction which had been 
felt and expressed at his imperfect victory. Sir 
Robert Calder, and Sir John Orde, Nelson believed 
to be the only two enemies whom he had ever had 
in his profession ; — and, from that sensitive delicacy 
which distinguished him, this made him the more 
scrupulously anxious to show every possible mark of 
respect and kindness to Sir Robert. He wished to 
detain him till after the expected action ; when the 
services which he might perform, and the triumphant 
joy which would be excited, would leave nothing to 
be apprehended from an inquiry into the previous 
engagement. Sir Robert, however, whose situation 
was very painful, did not choose to delay a trial, from 
the result of which he confidently expected a com- 
plete justification : and Nelson, instead of sending 
him home in a frigate, insisted on his returning in 
his own ninety gun ship, ill as such a ship could at 
that time be spared. Nothing could be more honour- 
able than the feeling by which Nelson was influenced, 
but, at such a crisis, it ought not to have been in- 
dulged. 

On the 9th Nelson sent Collingwood what he 
called, in his diary, the Nelson-touch. " I send you," 
said he, " my plan of attack, as far as a man dare 
venture to guess at the very uncertain position the 
enemy may be found in : but it is to place you per- 
fectly at ease respecting my intentions, and to give 
full scope to yDur judgment for carrying them into 
effect. We can, my dear Coll, have no little jealous- 



LIFE OF NELSON. 321 

ies. We have only one great object in view, that of 
annihilating our enemies, and getting a glorious 
peace for our country. No man has more confidence 
in another than I have in you ; and no man will ren- 
der your services more justice than your very old 
friend Nelson and Bronte." The order of sailing 
was to be the order of battle : the fleet in two lines, 
with an advanced squadron of eight of the fastest 
sailing two-deckers. The second in command, hav- 
ing the entire direction of his line, was to break 
through the enemy, about the twelfth ship from their 
rear : he would lead through the centre, and the ad- 
vanced squadron was to cut off three or four ahead 
of the centre. This plan was to be adapted to the 
strength of the enemy, so that they should always be 
one-fourth superior to those whom they cut off. 
Nelson said, " That his admirals and captains, know- 
ing his precise object to be that of a close and de- 
cisive action, would supply any deficiency of signals, 
and act accordingly. In case signals cannot be seen 
or clearly understood, no captain can do wrong if he 
places his ship alongside that of an enemy." One of 
the last orders of this admirable man was, that the 
name and family of every officer, seamen, and marine, 
who might be killed or wounded in action, should be, 
as soon as possible, returned to him, in order to be 
transmitted to the chairman of the Patriotic Fund, 
that the case might be taken into consideration, for 
the benefit of the sufferer or his family. 

About half-past nine in the morning of the 19th, 
the " Mars," being the nearest to the fleet of the ships 
21 



322 LIFE OF NELSON. 

which formed the line of communication with the 
frigates in shore, repeated the signal that the enemy 
were coming out of port. The wind was at this 
time very light, with partial breezes, mostly from the 
S.S.W. Nelson ordered the signal to be made for a 
chase in the south-east quarter. About two, the re- 
peating ships announced that the enemy were at sea. 
All night the British fleet continued under all sail, 
steering to the south-east. At daybreak they were 
in the entrance of the Straits, but the enemy were 
not in sight. About seven, one of the frigates made 
signal that the enemy were bearing north. Upon 
this the " Victory" hove to; and shortly afterwards 
Nelson made sail again to the northward. In the 
afternoon the wind blew fresh from the south-west, 
and the English began to fear that the foe might be 
forced to return to port. A little before sunset, how- 
ever, Blackwood, in the " Euryalus," telegraphed 
that they appeared determined to go to the westward, 
— "And that," said the admiral in his diary, "they 
shall not do, if it is in the power of Nelson and Bronte 
to prevent them." Nelson had signified to Black- 
wood that he depended upon him to keep sight of 
the enemy. They were observed so well, that all 
their motions were made known to him ; and, as they 
wore twice, he inferred that they were aiming to keep 
the port of Cadiz open, and would retreat there as 
soon as they saw the British fleet : for this reason he 
was very careful not to approach near enough to be 
seen by them during the night. At daybreak the 
combined fleets were distinctly seen from the " Vic- 



LIFE OF NELSON. 323 

tory's " deck, formed in a close line of battle ahead, 
on the starboard tack, about twelve miles to leeward, 
and standing to the south. Our fleet consisted of 
twenty-seven sail of the line and four frigates ; theirs 
of thirty-three, and seven large frigates. Their 
superiority was greater in size, and weight of metal, 
than in numbers. They had four thousand troops 
on board ; and the best riflemen who could be pro- 
cured, many of them Tyrolese, were dispersed 
through the ships. Little did the Tyrolese, and little 
did the Spaniards, at that day, imagine what horrors 
the wicked tyrant whom they served was preparing 
for their country ! 

Soon after daylight Nelson came upon deck. The 
2 1 st of October was a festival in his family; because 
on that day his uncle, Captain Suckling, in the 
" Dreadnought," with two other line of battle ships, 
had beaten off a French squadron of four sail of the 
line and three frigates. Nelson, with that sort of 
superstition from which few persons are entirely 
exempt, had more than once expressed his persuasion 
that this was to be the day of his battle also ; and he 
was well pleased at seeing his prediction about to 
be verified. The wind was now from the west, — 
light breezes, with a long heavy swell. Signal was 
made to bear down upon the enemy in two lines ; 
and the fleet set all sail. Collingwood, in the " Royal 
Sovereign," led the lee line of thirteen ships ; the 
" Victory " led the weather line of fourteen. Having 
seen that all was as it should be, Nelcon retired to 
his cabin, and wrote this prayer — 



324 LIFE OF NELSON. 

" May the Great God, whom I worship, grant to 
my country, and for the benefit of Europe in general, 
a great and glorious victory : and may no miscon- 
duct in any one tarnish it ; and may humanity after 
victory be the predominant feature in the British 
fleet ! For myself individually, I commit my life to 
Him that made me, and may His blessing alight on 
my endeavours for serving my countiy faithfully ! 
To Him I resign myself, and the just cause which is 
entrusted to me to defend. Amen, Amen, Amen." 

Having thus discharged his devotional duties, he 
annexed, in, the same diary, the following remarkable 
writing : — 

" October i\st, 1805. — Then in sight of the combined 
fleets of France and Spain, distant about ten 
miles. 

" Whereas the eminent services of Emma Hamil- 
ton, widow of the Right Honourable Sir William 
Hamilton, have been of the very greatest service to 
my king and country, to my knowledge, without ever 
receiving any reward from either our king or 
country : 

" First, That she obtained the King of Spain's let- 
ter, in 1796, to his brother, the King of Naples, ac- 
quainting him of his intention to declare war against 
England; from which letter the ministry sent out 
orders to the then Sir John Jervis to strike a stroke, if 
opportunity offered, against either the arsenals of 
Spain or her fleets. That neither of these was done 



LIFE OF NELSON. 325 

is not the fault of Lady Hamilton ; the opportunity 
might have been offered. 

" Secondly : The British fleet under my command 
could never have returned the second time to Egypt, 
had not Lady Hamilton's influence with the Queen 
of Naples caused letters to be wrote to the governor 
of Syracuse, that he was to encourage the fleet's 
being supplied with everything, should they put into 
any port in Sicily. We put into Syracuse, and re- 
ceived every supply ; went to Egypt, and destroyed 
the French fleet. 

" Could I have rewarded these services, I would 
not now call upon my country ; but as that has not 
been in my power, I leave Emma, Lady Hamilton, 
therefore, a legacy to my king and country, that they 
will give her an ample provision to maintain her rank 
in life. 

" I also leave to the beneficence of my country my 
adopted daughter, Horatio Nelson Thompson; and 
I desire she will use in future the name of Nelson 
only. 

"These are the only favours I ask of my king and 
.country, at this moment when I am going to fight 
their battle. May God bless my king and country, 
and all those I hold dear ! My relations it is needless 
to mention : they will, of course, be amply provided 
for. 

" Nelson and Bronte." 

TTr . . \ Henry Blackwood. 

Witness \ TM y Hardy/ , 



326 LIFE OF NELSON. 

The child of whom this writing speaks, was be- 
lieved to be his daughter, and so, indeed, he called 
her the last time that he pronounced her name. She 
was then about five years old, living at Merton, under 
Lady Hamilton's care. The last minutes which Nel- 
son passed at Merton were employed in praying over 
this child as she lay sleeping. A portrait of Lady 
Hamilton hung in his cabin ; and no Catholic ever 
beheld the picture of his patron saint with devouter 
reverence. The undisguised and romantic passion 
with which he regarded it amounted almost to super- 
stition ; and when the portrait was now taken down, 
in clearing for action, he desired the men who re- 
moved it to " take care of his guardian angel." In 
this manner he frequently spoke of it, as if he believed 
there were a virtue in the image. He wore a minia- 
ture of her also next his heart. Blackwood went on 
board the "Victory" about six. He found him in 
good spirits, but very calm ; not in that exhilaration 
which he had felt upon entering into battle at Abou- 
kir and Copenhagen ; he knew that his own life 
would be particularly aimed at, and seems to have 
looked for death with almost as sure an expectation 
as for victory. His whole attention was fixed upon 
the enemy. They tacked to the northward, and 
formed their line on the larboard tack; thus bringing 
the shoals of Trafalgar and St. Pedro under the lee 
of the British, and keeping the port of Cadiz open 
for themselves. This was judiciously done : and 
Nelson, aware of all the advantages which it gave 
them, made signal to prepare to anchor. 






LIFE OF NELSON. 327 

Villeneuve was a skilful seaman ; worthy of serv- 
ing a better master and a better cause. His plan of 
defence was as well conceived, and as original, as 
the plan of attack. He formed the fleet in a double 
line, every alternate ship being about a cable's length 
to windward of her second ahead and astern. Nel- 
son, certain of a triumphant issue to the day, asked 
Blackwood what he should consider as a victory. 
That officer answered, that, considering the hand- 
some way in which battle was offered by the enemy, 
their apparent determination for a fair trial of strength, 
and the situation of the land, he thought it would be a 
glorious result if fourteen were captured. He re- 
plied : " I shall not be satisfied with less than 
twenty." Soon afterwards he asked him if he did 
not think there was a signal wanting. Captain 
Blackwood made answer that he thought the whole 
fleet seemed very clearly to understand what they 
were about. These words were scarcely spoken 
before that signal was made, which will be re- 
membered as long as the language, or even the 
memory, of England shall endure : — Nelson's last 
signal : — " England expects every man to do his 
duty! " It was received throughout the fleet with a 
shout of answering acclamation, made sublime by 
the spirit which it breathed and the feeling which it 
expressed. " Now," said Lord Nelson, " I can do 
no more. We must trust to the Great Disposer of 
all events, and the justice of our cause. I thank God 
for this great opportunity of doing my duty." 

He wore that day, as usual, his admiral's frock 



328 LIFE OF NELSON. 

coat, bearing on the left breast four stars of the 
different orders with which he was invested. Orna- 
ments which rendered him so conspicuous a mark 
for the enemy, were beheld with ominous apprehen- 
sions by his officers. It was known that there were 
riflemen on board the French ships ; and it could 
not be doubted but that his life would be particularly 
aimed at. They communicated their fears to each 
other ; and the surgeon, Mr. Beatty,* spoke to the 
chaplain, Dr. Scott, and to Mr. Scott, the public 
secretary, desiring that some person would entreat 
him to change his dress, or cover the stars : but they 
knew that such a request would highly displease him. 
" In honour I gained them," he had said when such 
a thing had been hinted to him formerly, " and in 
honour I will die with them." Mr. Beatty, however, 
would not have been deterred by any fear of exciting 
his displeasure, from speaking to him himself upon a 
subject, in which the weal of England as well as the 
life of Nelson was concerned, but he was ordered 
from the deck before he could find an opportunity. 
This was a point upon which Nelson's officers knew 
that it was hopeless to remonstrate or reason with 
him; but both Blackwood, and his own captain, 
Hardy, represented to him how advantageous to the 
fleet it would be for him to keep out of action as long 
as possible ; and he consented at last to let the 
" Leviathan " and the " Temeraire," which were sail- 

* In this part of the work I have chiefly been indebted to this gentle- 
man's narrative of Lord Nelson's death ; a document as interesting as 
it is authentic. 



LIFE OF NELSON. 329 

ing abreast of the "Victory," be ordered to pass 
ahead. Yet even here the last infirmity of this noble 
mind was indulged ; for these ships could not pass 
ahead if the " Victory " continued to carry all her 
sail ; and so far was Nelson from shortening sail, 
that it was evident he took pleasure in pressing on, 
and rendering it impossible for them to obey his own 
orders. A long swell was setting into the Bay of 
Cadiz : our ships, crowding all sail, moved majestic- 
ally before it, with light winds from the south-west. 
The sun shone on the sails of the enemy ; and their 
well-formed line, with their numerous three-deckers, 
made an appearance which any other assailants 
would have thought formidable ; — but the British 
sailors only admired the beauty and the splendour of 
the spectacle ; and, in full confidence of winning 
what they saw, remarked to each other what a fine 
sight yonder ships would make at Spithead ! 

The French admiral, from the " Bucentaure," beheld 
the new manner in which his enemy was advancing, 
Nelson and Collingwood each leading his line ; and, 
pointing them out to his officers, he is said to have 
exclaimed, that such conduct could not fail to be 
successful. Yet Villeneuve had made his own dis- 
positions with the utmost skill, and the fleets under 
his command waited for the attack with perfect 
coolness. Ten minutes before twelve they opened 
their fire. Eight or nine of the ships immediately 
ahead of the " Victory," and across her bows, fired 
single guns at her to ascertain whether she was yet 
within their range. As soon as Nelson perceived 



330 LIFE OF NELSON. 

that their shot passed over him, he desired Blackwood, 
and Captain Prowse, of the " Sirius," to repair to 
their respective frigates; and, on their way, to tell all 
the captains of the line of battle ships that he de- 
pended on their exertions ; and that, if by the pre- 
scribed mode of attack they found it impracticable to 
get into action immediately, they might adopt what- 
ever they thought best, provided it led them quickly 
and closely alongside an enemy. As they were 
standing on the front of the poop, Blackwood took 
him by the hand, saying, he hoped soon to return 
and find him in possession of twenty prizes. He re- 
plied: "God bless you, Blackwood: I shall never 
see you again." 

Nelson's column was steered about two points 
more to the north than Collingwood's, in order to cut 
off the enemy's escape into Cadiz : the lee line, there- 
fore, was first engaged. " See," cried Nelson, pointing 
to the " Royal Sovereign," as she steered right for the 
centre of the enemy's line, cut through it astern of the 
" Santa Anna," three-decker, and engaged her at the 
muzzle of her guns on the starboard side : " see how 
that noble fellow, Collingwood, carries his ship into 
action!" Collingwood, delighted at being first in 
the heat of the fire, and knowing the feelings of his 
commander and old friend, turned to his captain, 
and exclaimed, " Rotherham, what would Nelson 
give to be here ! " Both these brave officers, per- 
haps, at this moment thought of Nelson with grati- 
tude, for a circumstance which had occurred on the 
preceding day. Admiral Collingwood, with some of 



LIFE OF NELSON. 331 

the captains, having gone on board the " Victory/' 
to receive instructions, Nelson inquired of him 
where his captain was ? and was told, in reply, that 
they were not upon good terms with each other. 
" Terms ! " said Nelson ; — " good terms with each 
other ! " Immediately he sent a boat for Captain 
Rotherham ; led him, as soon as he arrived, to 
Collingwood, and saying, " Look ; yonder are the 
enemy ! " bade them shake hands like Englishmen^ 
The enemy continued to fire a gun at a time at the 
" Victory," till they saw that a shot had passed through 
her main-topgallant-sail ; then they opened their 
broadsides, aiming chiefly at her rigging, in the hope 
of disabling her before she could close with them. 
Nelson, as usual, had hoisted several flags, lest one 
should be shot away. The enemy showed no colours 
till late in the action, when they began to feel the 
necessity of having them to strike. For this reason, 
the " Santissima Trinidad," Nelson's old acquaint- 
ance, as he used to call her, was distinguishable only 
by her four decks ; and to the bow of this opponent 
he ordered the " Victory " to be steered. Meantime an 
incessant raking fire was kept up upon the " Victory." 
The admiral's secretary was one of the first who fell • 
he was killed by a cannon shot, while conversing 
with Hardy. Captain Adair, of the marines, with 
the help of a sailor, endeavoured to remove the body 
from Nelson's sight, who had a great regard for Mr- 
Scott ; but he anxiously asked, " Is that poor Scott 
that's gone ? " and being informed that it was in- 
deed so, exclaimed, " Poor fellow!" Presently a 



332 LIFE OF NELSON. 

double-headed shot struck a party of marines, who 
were drawn up on the poop, and killed eight of them : 
upon which Nelson immediately desired Captain 
Adair to disperse his men round the ship, that they 
might not suffer so much from being together. A 
few minutes afterwards a shot struck the fore brace 
bits on the quarter-deck, and passed between Nelson 
and Hardy, a splinter from the bit tearing off Hardy's 
buckle and bruising his foot. Both stopped, and 
looked anxiously at each other, each supposing the 
other to be wounded. Nelson then smiled, and said, 
"This is too warm work, Hardy, to last long." 

The " Victory " had not yet returned a single gun : 
fifty of her men had been by this time killed or 
wounded, and her main-topmast, with all her stud- 
ding sails and their booms, shot away. Nelson de- 
clared that, in all his battles, he had seen nothing 
which surpassed the cool courage of his crew on this 
occasion. At four minutes after twelve she opened 
her fire from both sides of her deck. It was not 
possible to break the enemy's line without running 
on board one of their ships : Hardy informed him of 
this, and asked which he would prefer. Nelson re- 
plied : " Take your choice, Hardy, it does not signify 
much." The master was then ordered to put the 
helm to port, and the " Victory " ran on board the 
"Redoubtable," just as her tiller ropes were shot 
away. The French ship received her with a broad- 
side ; then instantly let down her lower deck ports, 
for fear of being boarded through them, and never 
afterwards fired a great gun during the action. Her 



LIFE OF NELSON. 333 

tops, like those of all the enemy's ships, were filled 
with riflemen. Nelson never placed musketry in his 
tops ; he had a strong dislike to the practice ; not 
merely because it endangers setting fire to the sails, 
but also because it is a murderous sort of warfare, by 
which individuals may suffer, and a commander, now 
and then, be picked off, but which never can decide 
the fate of a general engagement. 

Captain Harvey, in the " Temeraire," fell on board 
the " Redoubtable " on the other side. Another 
enemy was in like manner on board the " Temeraire " : 
so that these four ships formed as compact a tier as 
if they had been moored together, their heads lying 
all the same way. The lieutenants of the " Victory," 
seeing this, depressed their guns of the middle and 
lower decks, and fired with a diminished charge, lest 
the shot should pass through, and injure the " Tem- 
eraire." And because there was danger that the 
" Redoubtable " might take fire from the lower-deck 
guns, the muzzles of which touched her side when 
they were run out, the fireman of each gun stood 
ready with a bucket of water, which, as soon as the 
gun was discharged, he dashed into the hole made 
by the shot. An incessant fire was kept up from the 
" Victory " from both sides ; her larboard guns play- 
ing upon the " Bucentaure " and the huge " San- 
tissima Trinidad." 

It had been part of Nelson's prayer, that the 
British fleet might be distinguished by humanity in 
the victory which he expected. Setting an example 
himself, he twice gave orders to cease firing upon 



334 LIFE OF NELSON. 

the " Redoubtable," supposing that she had struck, 
because her great guns were silent ; for, as she 
carried no flag, there was no means of instantly- 
ascertaining the fact. From this ship, which he had 
thus twice spared, he received his death. A ball 
fired from her mizen-top, which, in the then situation 
of the two vessels, was not more than fifteen yards 
from that part of the deck where he was standing, 
struck the epaulette on his left shoulder, about a 
quarter after one, just in the heat of the action. He 
fell upon his face, on the spot which was covered 
with his poor secretary's blood. Hardy, who was a 
few steps from him, turning round, saw three men 
raising him up. " They have done for me at last, 
Hardy," said he. "I hope not!" cried Hardy. 
" Yes," he replied ; " my back bone is shot through." 
Yet even now, not for a moment losing his presence 
of mind, he observed, as they were carrying him 
down the ladder, that the tiller ropes, which had been 
shot away, were not yet replaced, and ordered that 
new ones should be rove immediately : — then, that he 
might not be seen by the crew, he took out his 
handkerchief, and covered his face and his stars. 
Had he but concealed these badges of honour from 
the enemy, England, perhaps, would not have had 
cause to receive with sorrow the news of the battle 
of Trafalgar. 

The cockpit was crowded with wounded and dying 
men ; over whose bodies he was with some difficulty- 
conveyed, and laid upon a pallet in the midshipmen's 
berth. It was soon perceived, upon examination, 






LIFE OF NELSON. 335 

that the wound was mortal. This, however, was 
concealed from all, except Captain Hardy, the chap- 
lain, and the medical attendants. He himself being 
certain, from the sensation in his back, and the gush 
of blood which he felt momently within his breast, 
that no human care could avail him, insisted that the 
surgeon should leave him, and attend to those to 
whom he might be useful : " For," said he, " you can 
do nothing for me." All that could be done was 
to fan him with paper, and frequently to give him 
lemonade, to alleviate his intense thirst. He was in 
great pain, and expressed much anxiety for the event 
of the action, which now began to declare itself. As 
often as a ship struck the crew of the " Victory " hur- 
raed ; and at every hurra a visible expression of joy 
gleamed in the eyes, and marked the countenance, 
of the dying hero. But he became impatient to see 
Captain Hardy ; and as that officer, though often sent 
for, could not leave the deck, Nelson feared that 
some fatal cause prevented him, and repeatedly cried : 
"Will no one bring Hardy to me? He must be 
killed ! He is surely dead ! " — An hour and ten 
minutes elapsed, from the time when Nelson received 
his wound, before Hardy could come to him. They 
shook hands in silence ; Hardy in vain struggling to 
suppress the feelings of that most painful, and yet 
sublimest moment. "Well, Hardy," said Nelson, 
" how goes the day with us ? " — " Very well," replied 
Hardy : " ten ships have struck, but five of their van 
have tacked, and show an intention of bearing down 
upon the ' Victory.' I have called two or three of our 



336 LIFE OF NELSON. 

fresh ships round, and have no doubt of giving them 
a drubbing." — " I hope," said Nelson, " none of our 
ships have struck ? " Hardy answered, " There was 
no fear of that." Then, and not till then, Nelson 
spoke of himself. " I am a dead man, Hardy," said 
he : "I am going fast : — it will be all over with me 
soon. Come nearer to me. Let my dear Lady 
Hamilton have my hair, and all other things belong- 
ing to me." Hardy observed, that he hoped Mr. 
Beatty could yet hold out some prospect of life. 
" Oh no ! " he replied ; " it is impossible. My back 
is shot through. Beatty will tell you so." Captain 
Hardy then, once more, shook hands with him ; and, 
with a heart almost bursting, hastened upon deck. 

By this time all feeling below the breast was gone ; 
and Nelson, having made the surgeon ascertain this, 
said to him : " You know I am gone. I know it. I 
feel something rising in my breast"" — putting his 
hand on his left side — "which tells me so." And 
upon Beatty 's inquiring whether his pain was very 
great ? he replied, " So great, that he wished he was 
dead. Yet," said he, in a lower voice, "one would 
like to live a little longer too ! " And after a few 
minutes, in the same under tone, he added : " What 
would become of poor Lady Hamilton if she knew 
my situation ? " Next to his country she occupied 
his thoughts. Captain Hardy, some fifty minutes 
after he had left the cockpit, returned ; and again tak- 
ing the hand of his dying friend and commander, 
congratulated him on having gained a complete vic- 
tory. How many of the enemy were taken he did 



LIFE OF NELSON. 337 

not know, as it was impossible to perceive them dis- 
tinctly — but fourteen or fifteen at least. " That's 
well," cried Nelson; "but I bargained for twenty." 
And then, in a stronger voice, he said, " Anchor, 
Hardy; anchor." Hardy, upon this, hinted that 
Admiral Collingwood would take upon himself the 
direction of affairs. " Not while I live, Hardy ! " said 
the dying Nelson, ineffectually endeavouring to raise 
himself from the bed: "do you anchor." His pre- 
vious order for preparing to anchor had shown how 
clearly he foresaw the necessity of this. Presently, 
calling Hardy back, he said to him, in a low voice, 
" Don't throw me overboard : " and he desired that 
he might be buried by his parents, unless it should 
please the king to order otherwise. Then, reverting 
to private feelings : " Take care of my dear Lady 
Hamilton, Hardy : take care of poor Lady Hamilton. 
— Kiss me, Hardy," said he. Hardy knelt down, and 
kissed his cheek : and Nelson said, " Now I am satis- 
fied. Thank God, I have done my duty." Hardy 
stood over him in silence for a moment or two ; then 
knelt again, and kissed his forehead. " Who is 
that ? " said Nelson ; and being informed, he replied, 
" God bless you, Hardy." And Hardy then left him 
— for ever. 

Nelson now desired to be turned upon his right 
side, and said : " I wish I had not left the deck ; for 
I shall soon be gone." Death was, indeed, rapidly 
approaching. He said to the chaplain : " Doctor, I 
have not been a great sinner:" and, after a short 
pause, " Remember that I leave Lady Hamilton, and 
22 



338 LIFE OF NELSON. 

my daughter Horatia, as a legacy to my country." 
His articulation now became difficult ; but he was 
distinctly heard to say, " Thank God, I have done 
my duty ! " These words he had repeatedly pro- 
nounced ; and they were the last words which he 
uttered. He expired at thirty minutes after four, — 
three hours and a quarter after he had received his 
wound. 

Within a quarter of an hour after Nelson was 
wounded, about fifty of the " Victory's " men fell by 
the enemy's musketry. They, however, on their 
part, were not idle ; and it was not long before there 
were only two Frenchmen left alive in the mizentop 
of the " Redoubtable." One of them was the man 
who had given the fatal wound : he did not live to 
boast of what he had done. An old quartermaster 
had seen him fire ; and easily recognised him, be- 
cause he wore a glazed cocked hat and a white frock. 
This quartermaster, and two midshipmen, Mr. Col- 
lingwood and Mr. Pollard, were the only persons left 
on the " Victory's " poop ; — the two midshipmen 
kept firing at the top, and he supplied them with 
cartridges. One of the Frenchmen, attempting to 
make his escape down the rigging, was shot by Mr. 
Pollard, and fell on the poop. But the old quarter- 
master, as he cried out, " That's he, that's he," and 
pointed at the other, who was coming forward to 
fire again, received a shot in his mouth, and fell 
dead. Both the midshipmen then fired, at the same 
time, and the fellow dropped in the top. When they 
took possession of the prize, they went into the mizen- 



LIFE OF NELSON. 339 

top, and found him dead ; with one ball through his 
head and another through his breast. 

The " Redoubtable " struck within twenty minutes 
after the fatal shot had been fired from her. During 
that time she had been twice on fire, — in her fore- 
chains and in her forecastle. The French, as they 
had done in other battles, made use, in this, of fire- 
balls and other combustibles ; — implements of de- 
struction which other nations, from a sense of honour 
and humanity, have laid aside — which add to the 
sufferings of the wounded without determining the 
issue of the combat — which none but the cruel would 
employ, and which never can be successful against 
the brave. Once they succeeded in setting fire, from 
the " Redoubtable," to some ropes and canvas on 
the " Victory's " booms. The cry ran through the 
ship, and reached the cockpit : but even this dread- 
ful cry produced no confusion : the men displayed 
that perfect self-possession in danger by which Eng- 
lish seamen are characterised ; they extinguished the 
flames on board their own ship, and then hastened 
to extinguish them in the enemy, by throwing buckets 
of water from the gangway. When the " Redoubt- 
able " had struck, it was not practicable to board her 
from the "Victory;" for, though the two ships 
touched, the upper works of both fell in so much, 
that there was a great space between their gangways ; 
and she could not be boarded from the lower or 
middle decks, because her ports were down. Some 
of our men went to Lieutenant Quilliam, and offered 
to swim under her bows and get up there ; but it 



34o LIFE OF NELSON. 

was thought unfit to hazard brave lives in this man- 
ner. 

What our men would have done from gallantry, 
some of the crew of the " Santissima Trinidad " did 
to save themselves. Unable to stand the tremen- 
dous fire of the "Victory," whose larboard guns 
played against this great four-decker, and not know- 
ing how else to escape them, nor where else to be- 
take themselves for protection, many of them leapt 
overboard, and swam to the " Victory,' and were actu- 
ally helped up her sides by the English during the ac- 
tion. The Spaniards began the battle with less vivacity 
than their unworthy allies, but they continued it with 
greater firmness. The " Argonauta " and "Baha- 
ma" were defended till they had each lost about 
four hundred men : the " St. Juan Nepomuceno " 
lost three hundred and fifty. Often as the superiority 
of British courage has been proved against France 
upon the seas, it was never more conspicuous than 
in this decisive conflict. Five of our ships were en- 
gaged muzzle to muzzle with five of the French. In 
all five the Frenchmen lowered their lower-deck ports, 
and deserted their guns ; while our men continued 
deliberately to load and fire, till they had made the 
victory secure. 

Once, amidst his sufferings, Nelson had expressed 
a wish that he were dead ; but immediately the spirit 
subdued the pains of death, and he wished to live a 
little longer ; doubtless that he might hear the com- 
pletion of the victory which he had seen so gloriously 
begun. That consolation — that joy — that triumph, 



LIFE OF NELSON. 341 

was afforded him. He lived to know that the victory 
was decisive ; and the last guns which were fired at 
the flying enemy were heard a minute or two before 
he expired. The ships which were thus flying were 
four of the enemy's van, all French, under Rear- 
Admiral Dumanoir. They had borne no part in the 
action ; and now, when they were seeking safety in 
flight, they fired not only into the " Victory " and 
" Royal Sovereign " as they passed, but poured their 
broadsides into the Spanish captured ships ; and they 
were seen to back their top-sails, for the purpose of 
firing with more precision. The indignation of the 
Spaniards at this detestable cruelty from their allies, 
for whom they had fought so bravely and so pro- 
fusely bled, may well be conceived. It was such, 
that when, two days after the action, seven of the 
ships which had escaped into Cadiz came out, in 
hopes of retaking some of the disabled prizes, the 
prisoners in the " Argonauta," in a body, offered their 
services to the British prize-master, to man the guns 
against any of the French ships : saying, that if a 
Spanish ship came alongside, they would quietly go 
below ; but they requested that they might be allowed 
to fight the French, in resentment for the murderous 
usage which they had suffered at their hands. Such 
was their earnestness, and such the implicit confidence 
which could be placed in Spanish honour, that the 
offer was accepted, and they were actually stationed 
at the lower deck guns. Dumanoir and his squadron 
were not more fortunate than the fleet from whose 
destruction they fled ; — they fell in with Sir Richard 



342 LIFE OF NELSON. 

Strachan, who was cruising for the Rochefort squad- 
ron, and were all taken. In the better days of 
France, if such a crime could then have been commit- 
ted, it would have received an exemplary punishment 
from the French Government : under Buonaparte, it 
was sure of impunity, and, perhaps, might be thought 
deserving of reward. But, if the Spanish court had 
been independent, it would have become us to have 
delivered Dumanoir and his captains up to Spain, 
that they might have been brought to trial, and 
hanged in sight of the remains of the Spanish fleet. 
The total British loss in the battle of Trafalgar 
amounted to 1587. Twenty of the enemy struck; — 
unhappily the fleet did not anchor, as Nelson, almost 
with his dying breath, had enjoined ; — a gale came 
on from the south-west ; some of the prizes went 
down, some went on shore ; one effected its escape 
into Cadiz ; others were destroyed ; four only were 
saved, and those by the greatest exertions. The 
wounded Spaniards were sent ashore, an assurance 
being given that they should not serve till regularly 
exchanged ; and the Spaniards, with a generous feel- 
ing, which would not, perhaps, have been found in 
any other people, offered the use of their hospitals 
for our wounded, pledging the honour of Spain that 
they should be carefully attended there. When the 
storm after the action drove some of the prizes upon 
the coast, they declared that the English, who were 
thus thrown into their hands, should not be considered 
as prisoners of war ; and the Spanish soldiers gave 
up their own beds to their shipwrecked enemies. 



LIFE OF NELSON. 343 

The Spanish vice-admiral, Alava, died of his wounds. 
Villeneuve was sent to England, and permitted to 
return to France. The French Government say that 
he destroyed himseif on the way to Paris, dreading 
the consequences of a court-martial : but there is 
every reason to believe that the tyrant, who never 
acknowledged the loss of the battle of Trafalgar, 
added Villeneuve to the numerous victims of his 
murderous policy. 

It is almost superfluous to add, that all the honours 
which a grateful country could bestow, were heaped 
upon the memory of Nelson. His brother was made 
an earl, with a grant of ^6000 per year; ^10,000 
were voted to each of his sisters; and ^100,000 for 
the purchase of an estate. A public funeral was de- 
creed, and a public monument. Statues and monu- 
ments also were voted by most of our principal cities. 
The leaden coffin, in which he was brought home, 
was cut in pieces, which were distributed as relics of 
Saint Nelson, — so the gunner of the " Victory " called 
them : — and when, at his interment, his flag was 
about to be lowered into the grave, the sailors, who 
assisted at the ceremony, with one accord rent it in 
pieces, that each might preserve a fragment while he 
lived. 

The death of Nelson was felt in England as some- 
thing more than a public calamity : men started at 
the intelligence, and turned pale, as if they had heard 
of the loss of a dear friend. An object of our admira- 
tion and affection, of our pride and of our hopes, was 
suddenly taken from us ; and it seemed as if we had 



344 LIFE OF NELSON. 

never, till then, known how deeply we loved and 
reverenced him. What the country had lost in its 
great naval hero — the greatest of our own, and of all 
former times, was scarcely taken into the account of 
grief. So perfectly, indeed, had he performed his 
part, that the maritime war, after the battle of Tra- 
falgar, was considered at an end : the fleets of the 
enemy were not merely defeated, but destroyed : new 
navies must be built, and a new race of seamen 
reared for them, before the possibility of their invad- 
ing our shores could again be contemplated. It was 
not, therefore, from any selfish reflection upon the 
magnitude of our loss that we mourned for him : the 
general sorrow was of a higher character. The 
people of England grieved that funeral ceremonies, 
public monuments and posthumous rewards, were 
all which they could now bestow upon him, whom 
the king, the legislature, and the nation, would alike 
have delighted to honour ; whom every tongue would 
have blessed ; whose presence in every village through 
which he might have passed would have wakened 
the church bells, have given schoolboys a holiday, 
have drawn children from their sports to gaze upon 
him, and " old men from the chimney corner,"' to 
look upon Nelson ere they died. The victory of Tra- 
falgar was celebrated, indeed, with the usual forms 
of rejoicing, but they were without joy; for such 
already was the glory of the British navy, through 
Nelson's surpassing genius, that it scarcely seemed 
to receive any addition from the most signal victory 
that ever was achieved upon the seas : and the de- 



LIFE OF NELSON. 345 

struction of this mighty fleet, by which all the maritime 
schemes of France were totally frustrated, hardly ap- 
peared to add to our security or strength ; for, while 
Nelson was living, to watch the combined squadrons 
of the enemy, we felt ourselves as secure as now, 
when they were no longer in existence. 

There was reason to suppose, from the appearances 
upon opening the body, that, in the course of nature, 
he might have attained, like his father, to a good old 
age. Yet he cannot be said to have fallen prema- 
turely whose work was done ; nor ought he to be 
lamented, who died so full of honours, and at the 
height of human fame. The most triumphant death 
is that of the martyr ; the most awful, that of the 
martyred patriot ; the most splendid, that of the hero 
in the hour of victory : and if the chariot, and the 
horses of fire had been vouchsafed for Nelson's trans- 
lation, he could scarcely have departed in a brighter 
blaze of glory. He has left us, not indeed his mantle 
of inspiration, but a name and an example, which are 
at this hour inspiring hundreds of the youth of Eng- 
land : a name which is our pride, and an example 
which will continue to be our shield and our strength. 
Thus it is that the spirits of the great and the wise 
continue to live and to act after them : verifying, in 
this sense, the language of the old mythologist : 

Yoi fx€v 8ainove<; eicri, Ato? fxeyakov Slol /3ovAas 
EerflAoi, eirix.6oviOL, <f)v\a.Ke<; Bverwv avOpwntav. 

(For gods they are, through high Jove's counsels good, 
Haunting the earth, the guardians of mankind J 

THE END. 



JUN 27 1901 



